Link Finds His Voice
by The-world-needs-peace
Summary: Two villains have found a way to communicate between worlds, giving way to new possibilities. What will this mean for their arch enemies? Chaos, confusion, and hopefully cooperation...
1. Chapter 1

T-W-N-P: Welcome everyone to Link Finds His Voice! Please sit back, shut off your cell phones, get your popcorn, and enjoy the show!

BTW, I do not own LoZ or IY

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Sunlight barely filtered through the foliage in the dark tunnel created by the outer reaching branches of the large trees. A small blurb of bluish white light with see-through wings sprouting from the back zoomed back and forth, never straying too far from the figure walking through the wooded area.

"Ugh! How long have we been walking in the this forest!?" the point of light screeched in an annoyed, high pitched voice. "When are we going to get to this "Hyrule field" anyway? We've been in here forever!"

A flaxen eyebrow twitched from under long, parted golden bangs sticking out from under a stocking green cap. Small forelocks also appeared from under the cap, and barely covered the boy's large pointy ears that stuck straight out. His closed eyes twitched in trying to control his anger.

"I mean seriously, it's not like we could get directions or anything," the light jingled irritably, "And we can't draw anything in the map unless we've already _been_ there! Why couldn't we get an _actual_ map!?"

The boy's hands clenched to fists, grabbing the hem of his long green, short-sleeved tunic, separated by his dark brown leather utility belt with a gold clasp. He silently told himself that he was supposed to be noble, this was his forest quest, and he couldn't kill his guide needlessly in the first stage. Though as the small person continued to ramble on and on and on, another part of him reasoned that getting rid of her might save his sanity, thus enabling him to continue his mission effectively.

"…Of course it's not the Kokiri's fault that they were all too cowardly to go outside the forest's borders." She continued as-a-matter-of-factly. "We just happen to be the first ever to venture outside the usual safety of our domain…"

The boy found his hands slowly reaching up for the small golden handle with a red jewel in the center resting in the scabbard on his back, held securely under a wooden shield with a swirling red insignia

"Hey look! I think we've reached the end!"

The boy's eyes shot wide open, revealing crystal sapphire eyes, and he grinned in relieved joy. He immediately began to sprint toward the light at the end of the tunnel. He was pretty fast despite the heavy leather boots he wore.

"Hey Link! Wait for me!" Cried the light as she raced to catch up.

The boy identified as Link ignored her and continued running. Soon he'd be free and out of this place, and the next part of his adventure would soon begin!

He grew closer and closer to the luminous radiance piercing through the darkness. He was almost there; he could already smell the fresh breeze and flowers. He finally reached the end and burst through the opening. He gaped for a few moments at the sight that greeted him as the blur finally caught up with him, and joined him in his gazing.

Bright sunlight illuminated the great blue sky stretched out before them, not a cloud in sight. Vivid green grass and a few wildflowers extended as far as the eye could see, covering the vast land of rolling hills. A few small trees scattered through out the wide clearing, simple bushes compared to the great vegetation of the forest the boy and the fairy came out of. A dirt path was the only lack of color, and it rolled straight out in front of him.

"You… think we should take this path?" the fairy said slowly, still taking in the sights.

Link nodded numbly and began to walk forward, looking around him in pure wonder. They walked for a little bit, marveling at all the new flowers, the odd plants and even the strange birds that flew overhead every now and then. Suddenly the young boy noticed an odd patch of colors a little off in the distance. When he squinted, he realized they were people wearing strange clothing lying on the ground.

"What's that?" the fairy asked.

Link sprinted to the band of colors instead of answering, and tried to catch his breath as soon as he stopped, staring with amazed eyes at the scene in front of him. A group of four sleeping people, a small critter, and what looked like an animal child were sprawled out on the lawn.

One teenage girl seemed the most comfortable out of the group. She was sleeping in a plush, burgundy bag that covered most of her body, leaving only her smooth pale hands and her head, which was turned to the side slightly. Delicate dark eyebrows were relaxed above closed eyes, and under raven locks of hair that puffed on her forehead. The rest of her raven hair shone blue in the sunlight and cascaded around her shoulders, framing her relaxed pale face and making a small round ear stick out just slightly. Her mouth opened slightly to allow even breathing that let the boy and fairy know she was asleep.

"I've never seen hair like her's before." The fairy whispered. "And her ears are rounded! And look at the thing next to her!"

He looked at the tiny animal child lying next to the sleeping girl's face. Vibrant orange hair was tied into a short ponytail high on his head with a blue ribbon, his puffy bangs hanging over his large forehead, and bringing some attention to a small pointy ear. He wore a turquoise old-style Japanese shirt with large sleeves with white leaves sown in different directions as a pattern, and from the huge sleeves came two tiny hands placed next to the child's sleeping face. A tan fur vest was worn over the jacket-like shirt, tucked into the midnight-blue belt of his balloon hakama pants tied into a bulky bow in the front. The thing that reminded the boy and the fairy of an animal was the full-size short, bulging tail sprouting from the back of his pants, and the tiny hind fox feet replacing human looking ones.

Link looked in awe at the two figures for a moment before walking around them a bit to the people behind them. His eyes were drawn to an older teenage boy curled up next to a long slender staff that seemed longer than him. Atop the staff was a gold ring with a slightly knobbed rod rising vertically from the wooden part of the staff and ending an inch out of the ring. Three small gold rings dangled on each side of the rod. The boy's dark hair was drawn into a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck, keeping some of the hair going into long spiked bangs over his forehead and thick arched eyebrows. A flowing black robe draped over his body with a long purple cloth wrapped from his left shoulder down his middle and tied into a small bow on his chest, only showing the large black sleeves. His white feet stuck out of his clothes to show brown reed sandals.

Link slowly stated to reach out for the odd-looking shoes, but the small fairy lightly bumped into his hand.

"Don't do that! We don't even _know_ them."

The boy's brow lowered and lips pursed and jutted out in disappointment before he became fascinated with the woman and creature curled next to the young man.

A tiny sleeping feline with pale yellow fur was curled up next to the young woman's quiescent face. Two puffy yellow tails rested in front of the cat almost like blanket, covering her tiny paws from view, of which two slender stripes encircled the tips. A narrow black diamond was naturally printed a little above and between closed eyes. A tiny black nose and two matching furry black ears twitched for a moment on top of the kitten's head, though no other movement was made, to which the boy and his fairy were relieved.

Link finally took a moment to examine the older girl, and his eyes and mouth widened. The somewhat baggy clothes she was wearing were light pink with occasional stripe-patches of magenta on the sleeves and bottom half, and somewhat hid her womanly figure. A forest green cloth covered her legs from her stomach to below her knees. The pair could tell she wore a skin-tight, full-length body suit from the midnight-black leggings that ended at her ankles, and the sleeves that wrapped up the back of the elegant hands coiled next to her face by the rings on her middle fingers. The white feet curled slightly under her bore beige reed sandals. A white ribbon tied a loose, half ponytail just below her shoulders, allowing a smooth wave of maple brown to fall around her neck, while a tail of glossy long hair to fall well past her waist. A slight cowlick popped up from her neatly trimmed-slightly parted- bangs, and tiny forelocks grew in front of her rounded ears. A thin stripe of magenta eye shadow covered each closed eyelid, matching the top magenta half of her kimono. The young yet obviously mature face was calm and serene in peaceful sleep, leaving the countenance in its simple beauty.

_She's so pretty…_ Link couldn't help but think in awe.

Link felt a thud on his skull and looked up irritably to the offending ball of light.

"Close your mouth. You were staring."

He blinked at her, and looked elsewhere, deciding not to comment. His eyes fell on a ridiculously gigantic beige boomerang taller than the girl. A strap of leather was tied and wrapped around a section of about six inches on each end of the huge weapon. A yellow tassel was attached to the middle of the leather. On one end was a yellow strap a little longer than hand-width just below the tassel with a tiny red orb.

_What the **hell** is that thing?_

"Link…" the fairy whispered. "_Look_…"

He followed her line of sight to the last sleeping figure, (who actually was lying down on his back, instead of curled up like the others) and he gave a small gasp as his eyes traveled up the being.

The first thing he noticed was that the person was barefoot, which Link thought was rather odd since the others were wearing such funny shoes. Well, okay, except the bizarre child, but now he was getting off topic. The person wore a larger, bright red version of the balloon pants the little boy wore, complete with a big red bow in the front. A baggy huge Japanese jacket the same color and shade as the pants were tucked in above the person's hips, making the legs look much longer than the torso. Pale, _clawed_ masculine human hands stuck out from the large scarlet sleeves, making the boy and his fairy shiver. A curtain of puffy silver white hair was spread out behind the young man to his waist, and long white forelocks fell to his shoulders around his still face. Thick, dark arched eyebrows overlapped his messy silver-white bangs. Link blinked and stared openly at the attribute he found on top of the other creature's head, and the fairy made no move to stop him, mostly because she herself was also staring.

Slightly hidden by a mass of puffy white hair was a pair of two triangular appendages, the outside covered in thin white fur while the inside remained pink.

"Are those…" the tiny girl whispered in awe and flew just a bit closer. "It's _ears_?"

The boy hesitantly reached out, and gingerly lifted the forelock closest to him, only to reveal regular skin where normal ears would have gone.

Both the pair gasped incredulously as their eyes widened.

"Definitely not Hylian." She murmured.

The small ball of light flew ever so slightly closer to one of the ears while the boy's hand slowly reached for the other. Gentle fingers grasped one ear while two small hands grabbed the other. Link tweaked one ear while the fairy stroked and felt the other.

The creature's face twitched.

Both of the violators hurdled back with surprising speed and force while the creature did nothing more than rub the ear the fairy had been on, turn over toward them, and settle back down into slumber without ever opening it's eyes.

Both sat there, and happened to finally notice the old sword lying next to the being. Its shiny ebony sheath looked brand new compared to the rusty gold hilt and torn rags of the actual sword's handle.

"You think he actually uses that ol' thing?" the fairy asked.

The boy shrugged and carefully stood up. He cautiously turned to the hovering spot of light, and waved for her to come closer. She did, and he pointed behind him over his shoulder.

"Is something behind you?"

The boy shook his head, pointed to both of them and pointed behind him again.

"Yeah, we should get going." The fairy whispered after figuring out what he meant. "They'll just wake up and continue on their own journey soon anyway. We shouldn't have bothered them."

Link slowly turned around, and lifted up a foot while the fairy sat on his shoulder. As soon as he put it on the ground with the softest of thuds, he heard a quick, fierce growl, and he spun around in time to see one ferociously shining golden eye and flaming yellow energy being thrown to him. Link swung back in time to barely avoid the fire, though gravity pulled him down and he fell to the grass covered ground. He let out a scream as he looked up just in time to see the sharp edge of a huge blade swinging down to him, shut his eyes and curled his hands over his head.

* * *


	2. Introductions

Link slowly turned around, and lifted up a foot while the fairy sat on his shoulder. As soon as he put it on the ground with the softest of thuds, he heard a quick, fierce growl, and he spun around in time to see one ferociously shining golden eye and flaming yellow energy being thrown to him. Link swung back in time to barely avoid the fire, though gravity pulled him down and he fell to the grass covered ground. He let out a scream as he looked up just in time to see the sharp edge of a huge blade swinging down to him, shut his eyes and curled his hands over his head.

The impact never came. After a few seconds of silence, both Link and the fairy carefully opened one eye, then the other to look at the crouched form of the other creature. Wide, surprised golden yellow eyes stared at the boy's crystal blue eyes with his mouth slightly a-gap, and Link couldn't help but lower his arms to look more clearly at him over the massive sword, showing his equally stunned face. Yellow eyes?

The other person blinked and said something to Link, in a light, almost growling voice in wonder, but it was said in a choppy sounding language neither Link nor the fairy could understand.

The other members of the once sleeping party startled awake and immediately grabbed their weapons lying next to them, except the cat who simply went into a defensive position and growled, and the animal-like child who yelped in surprise and hid behind the girl with black hair, who stood up and showed she was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a green sailor collar, (With a red ribbon knot hanging out) and a short green skirt with socks, completing a school-girl's uniform.

The girl said something in a high-pitched voice to the crouching red figure urgently in the same language while she picked up a bow and quiver of arrows.

The other young man in the robes said something to him in the same tongue as well, though in a deep masculine voice.

Both Link and the fairy looked helplessly between the two members.

The man with the long white hair looked over to his companions and said something to them indicating the pair still at the end of his sword.

Both the boy and girl looked over to the other boy and fairy while the animal-like child-midget carefully came forward and scrutinized Link with shining emerald green eyes.

He blinked in surprise and said something in an uneven, high-pitched voice, as though in realization.

The girl with black hair said something and bent down so she was eye level with Link. She said something in a questioning voice. It took a second for the pair to realize she was asking them a question.

"Great, now what do we do?" the fairy whispered to Link.

Another female voice cut through the group, soft and feminine, yet mature and commanding at the same time. The beautiful young woman Link recognized from before stood up, carrying the large boomerang on her back with no difficulty, despite the fact it was larger, and looked heavier than her. She walked right in front of Link and stopped so that she was practically hovering right over him. He stared into her purple-decorated soft, questioning brown eyes as she gave a small, stunning smile and said something else while looking straight at him. He gulped and looked down as his face heated up, hoping that he wasn't blushing. (While in reality he was only blushing a little bit.)

The older teenage boy with the sword glared and asked something from impatience. The other man frowned at him and said something almost sternly. The older teenage boy snorted and removed the huge sword point from Links face. It began to glow with the same yellow flames the attacked pair saw before as the huge blade slid into the small skinny black scabbard.

Link's face returned too normal as he and the fairy stared with an open mouth at the once drawn sword. How the hell…?

The woman with brown hair asked them something again, and Link looked helplessly up at her. He couldn't even understand her!

The man wearing red who just put away the sword said something else a bit louder, more impatiently and Link flinched while the fairy flew in front of him.

"You don't have to yell at us!" she said irritably while zooming and fluttering back and forth between them. "Maybe if you spoke actual Hylian instead of your weird gibberish then maybe we could-"

The other group stared in disbelief and blinked at the floating light jingling angrily at them.

"What… is _that_?" the man in the red asked in a young yet rough voice.

"I'm not really sure…" the other man with the staff admitted.

"Do ya think it's the kid's soul?" the animal-like child suggested.

"Don't be stupid Shippou." The man in red answered. "The kid's not _dead_, it can't be his soul."

"Maybe you scared it out of him." Shippou accused.

"What was that?" he asked threateningly.

"Nothing!" he squeaked.

"Come now, let's not get into a fight." The other man said while the blur kept rattling off in some foreign language. "We have to figure out who this boy is and… what this thing is."

"I think it's a fairy." The girl with the black hair stated.

"What's a fairy Kagome?" the other woman asked.

"Um, we were supposed to be studying something about them a few weeks ago now, let me check my bag…" she knelt down and set down her bow and arrows to rummage through a large bright banana yellow bag and fished out a textbook. She flipped through the pages while muttering "fairy" under her breath.

"A-hah! Here it is! "A small sprite said to live in the trees and fields of mystical forests. Often used in Western mythology." Everyone crowded around her to see a color picture printed of a young maiden with pointed ears and red hair pulled in a bun. Leaf patterned and designed clothing adorned her body, and light wings sprouted from her back. Everyone looked at the babbling blue light, and back to the book a few times before Kagome closed her book and put it back in her bag.

"Well that was helpful." The man in red said somewhat sarcastically. He walked over to the fairy and grabbed her from midair, causing her to jingle and scream out in her language and the boy in green to scramble up. "Hey, what's your name, and what-"

Link whipped out a slingshot and a small nut from his utility belt. With a split second one-eyed aim he fired at the offender's wrist, making him yelp and let go of the fairy.

"Link, let's get out of here!" the fairy pleaded as well as flew into his hat.

The boy took out a large dark brown nut that he couldn't hold completely in one hand just as the others began to go on the defensive. He raised it above his head and chucked it to the ground, creating a blinding flash for his opponents. Ignoring their cries of anger and pain, he turned on his heel and ran.

"My eyes…" Shippou complained.

"Damn it," the man in red growled as his eyes slowly healed from the sudden onslaught. "As soon as I get my hands on that kid-"

"Come now Inu Yasha," The man in the purple and black robes said calmly while his eyes slowly opened and he lowered his staff. "That's not fair to threaten the child. You attacked the fairy, naturally he would think you were dangerous and act out of self defense."

Inu Yasha snorted and looked after the small form of the runaway child.

_But that's no ordinary kid…_ he thought. _He didn't smell like a human or a demon. And the way he wielded those items-_

"Uh, guys?" Kagome asked as she scanned the area with worried brown eyes, "Where are we?"

Everyone looked around, and confusion found it's way to all of their faces.

"What is this place?" Shippou asked in awe as he jumped onto Kagome's shoulder.

"This isn't where we were last night." The woman with brown hair stated in a serious tone. She turned to the man with the robes. "Miroku, do you sense anything out of the ordinary?"

Miroku paused for a moment, and looked out into the vast field before him. "The energies are different in this place. Not ominous, but not like our world."

"Our _world_?" The woman with brown hair repeated skeptically.

He nodded gravely and looked into the sky. "I have no doubt this is a different realm of some kind. Look at how the sun moves." He pointed to the ball of fire to prove his point and everyone followed his gaze.

"Whoa, it's so fast!" Shippou exclaimed, and everyone silently agreed at the visibly moving sun.

"At this rate it will be nightfall in a few minutes." Miroku predicted

Inu Yasha raised his face up to the sky and sniffed the wind and scowled. "The scents here are completely different." He informed everyone. "There aren't even any demons nearby."

"But then, what does this mean?" Kagome asked worriedly.

"It means we were transported to some weird place without our knowledge." Inu Yasha scoffed.

Miroku nodded. "Yes, a spell of some kind is probably our best bet."

"But then, what do we do about it?" the woman with brown hair asked. "We can't just wait here and figure out what to do."

"And I agree." Miroku said to her. "We need to find out just what this place is. I'm sure there are more people than that boy. We need to find and speak with the natives, so we get a better picture of where we are."

Everyone silently agreed and gathered their wits as Kagome packed up her sleeping bag and picked up her yellow bag.

"Sango," Miroku said as he walked up behind her. "Are you alright?"

"Of course Miroku," Sango assured. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," his face grew worried, "transportation spells could have some sort of side affect, so I want to make sure that you're alright."

She gave a small smile as he came up next to her. "Don't worry about me Miroku, I'm just-"

His hand reached over and began to rub her bottom affectionately. The victim straightened and shuddered. Her face turned beat red, as she grew furious, whirled around and slapped him smartly across the cheek.

"PERVERT!!" she screamed and turned back the way she was walking. She saw the small yellow feline with two tails out of the corner of her eye. "Come along Kilala."

Kirara quickly followed her companion and ignored the monk rubbing his red cheek with a happy grin on his face.

_Yep,_ he thought. _She's just fine_.


	3. Learning a new world

Link sprinted as fast as his stout legs could carry him back to the path he came from, and as soon as he reached it he continued the way he had been going earlier. He did not dare slow down until his lungs had well passed the stage of burning and his legs became numb. He collapsed at the point where the dirt path began to disappear for green grass sprouting up and the mysterious sound of running water persisted.

"Hey, Link!" The fairy popped out from the hat and looked worriedly at him. "Boy, you look like you've seen better days."

The panting and sweating boy glared back up at her for a moment before his head fell back to the ground.

"Alright, you can rest, jeez." She flew up a bit higher into the slightly darkening sky. "I can barely make out a dot, which I _think_ is the other group, and they don't look like they're running." She turned to look at him. "We should be fine for…"

The now curious child turned to look at her then noticed by the direction of her wings she was looking up ahead. He followed her gaze and though his breathing stayed labored, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

An enormous gray stonewall towered over the pair. It stretched to both sides as far as the eye could see and a huge wooden bridge supported by black iron chains ran over a river bubbling by. So _that_ was why they heard water!

"We made it Link!" The fairy jingled excitedly. "We actually made it! Come on, let's go!"

Link smiled in relief through his panting and pushed himself up, but as soon as he tried to move his feet he fell forward again.

"Dude, you need to work out."

He leered up at the easily flying fairy and repeated the process of getting up and tumbling forward, crawling to the opening of the wall as darkness quickly descended upon them.

"Come on, hurry! Before it gets dark!"

A long wailing howl of a coyote suddenly echoed throughout the night, and the black iron chains began to pull to make the bridge creak upward.

"NO! Stop! Wait for us, let us in first!"

Link's efforts doubled, but his speed only increased forty percent, and by the time the gate closed completely he was still thirty feet away.

"No…" the blue light called out dejectedly and sunk to the ground. "We were so close…"

Link looked out to the closed entrance, and his face fell dismally. The sound of moving earth grabbed his attention for a moment before the searing sensation of something ripping across his face ripped a blood-curdling scream from his throat.

Inu Yasha jumped immediately to attention as a gust of wind picked up and swirled around the group, making the humans of the group shiver and the demons stiffen.

"Did you hear that Inu Yasha?" Shippou asked while jumping onto his shoulder.

"Yeah, I smell it too." He said as he swiftly tore along the path through the night.

"Inu Yasha!?" Kagome called out while she shivered.

The yellow feline Kirara growled as a swirl of red orange flame surrounded her and grew exponentially. The flames dispersed and in place of the tiny kitten stood a form similar to a saber tooth tiger. The coloring and black markings remained the same, but two long dagger fangs protruded from under the top lip past the lower jaw. The new creature let out an echoing roar to the remaining members.

"It's the kid!" came back the explained answer from Inu Yasha when he did not come back or slow down.

Link clasped the now bleeding side of his face as he looked up at a pair of glowing red eyes.

The blue fairy shot past him and thwacked the head of the creature, driving it away from the boy. A small tremor of fear ran through him and he drew his sword and shield while getting to his feet. He surveyed the nighttime attacker once he got enough distance, and a familiar sensation of fear, excitement and curiosity welled up inside of him. The fairy flew back after her failed attempt at defeating the moving, walking, attacking short _skeleton_ she had just fended off.

"It's a… _Stal_child!" she panted. "Just use your- (_Clank_) sword, _yip_!"

Link bounced back from the force of the Stalchild striking his shield and he dropped forcefully straight down to the ground. Another strike sent his shield shaking against his arm, and he lashed out at the skeletal legs of the monster, shattering the bones and dismembering the skeleton, making it disappear, but getting the attention of another. Link managed to get back up to his weak trembling legs, thanks to the Fairy's encouragement. He lashed out again at the creature and he paused for a moment catch his already stretched breath. There was the sound of more moving earth, and footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around and brought up his shield just in time to block an attack from one of the new creatures, but could not stop the other. Another scream burst out of him as a new set of slashes adorned his bicep. He was sent sprawling a yard or so, and could only curl himself and bring up his shield to block the onslaught of painful attacks now ripping his body.

"SANKON TESSOU!!!"

The sound of something slashing through the air and rattling bones forced Link to open his eyes. There was a scarlet figure, flashing sliver in the moonlight, with yellow light following his wake. As the figure let out another round of his attack to finish off the remaining Stalchildren, Link was able to make a distinct shape as it flew through the air. He saw that the light was coming from the tips of the claws of the youth from earlier. Link was able to recognize the small animal-like child, because of its orange-red hair tied in the blue bow, sitting on the youth's shoulder.

Link's eyes already felt heavy as the blurry image of the man in red bent over him.

"Hey, stay with us kid!" Inu Yasha commanded.

The boy's eyes did open a bit more, though they were foggy and dilated with pain and exhaustion.

"Damn it…" he whispered, looking him over, ignoring the bizarre high pitched beeping sound coming from nowhere.

"He doesn't look so good…" Shippou pointed out worriedly. "…and where's that sound coming from?"

The blur of light from before began to jingle in front of the boy's face, making him apparently more focused. Inu Yasha carefully moved the shield covering the boy's body. A strangled cry came form the boy as the arm was jostled and he grabbed it reflexively. The liquid scarlet still seeped out of the gashes on the arm, and thick scratches could be made on the side of the face that was now bleeding on the ground.

"_Hey_!" Inu Yasha snatched the hand away from the wound. "Don't do that, you'll make it worse."

"We have to wrap him up, other wise he'll bleed to death!" Shippou exclaimed.

"I know that!" Inu Yasha snapped, his outside jacket already off, leaving only his similar-styled white under shirt. "Keep those guys away while I take care of the kid."

Shippou blinked at him for a moment before looking up in time to see more skeletons coming toward them. He let out a cry of terror before jumping off Inu Yasha's shoulder and running to the side.

"Why do _I_ have to get stuck doing this!?" He leaped up into the air and threw his hand forward. "FOX FIRE!!!"

Turquoise flames spiraled out of the tiny palm and set a protective ring of fire around the pair. The blue-green glow lit one half of the child as he landed and cast his other half in shadow, adding a deceiving air of calm and bravado. The skeletons stopped their trek and turned to the young fox demon.

"Y-Yeah, that's right." Shippou smiled and his short puffy tail shook violently behind him. "Now you're g-going to have to fight me!"

The skeletons did not complain and walked after Shippou with their hands raised. He let out another scream and ran as fast as his little fox-feet could carry him, effectively distracting any remaining interest they might have had in Inu Yasha and Link.

Inu Yasha had just finished wrapping up the boy in his red haori (Making him sit up of course) while trying to ignore the zooming glowing fairy. After ten seconds of patience, he finally snapped and grabbed the fairy from mid air.

"Hey, _relax_." He said with an obviously strained control on his temper. "I'm tryin' to help, but if you don't shut up, this kid will be able to dance circles around you by the time I'm through with you!"

He tossed the light behind him and slipped off his white shirt as well, revealing his naked chest. He wrapped it and tied it around the kid's bleeding legs just as his group appeared flying in mid-air on Kirara, with Shippou riding in Kagome's protective arms.

"Inu Yasha!" Miroku called out. "Is the boy alright?"

The sound of moving earth and rattling bones distracted them all and Inu Yasha quickly scooped the boy against him tightly.

"We need to get him help!" he called up.

"HIRAIKOTSU!!"

A whirling beige boomerang spun in front of Inu Yasha, destroying the ever-rising skeletons appearing in front of him.

"Thanks Sango!"

He looked to the high stone wall in front of him and shot toward it, the blur following his wake. He took a mighty leap and sailed well over the stone castle wall. He felt the boy shivering and instinctively held him tighter.

_Just hold on kid… _

Link forced his eyes open, despite his instinct to curl tightly against the only source of warmth and strength he had. His fading vision and dizzy view made his sight out of focus, but he was still able to make out the violently whipping white hair and fiercely determined golden eyes of his savior. Said savior locked eye with him and seemed to say something to him, but Link still could not understand him, and closed his eyes to try to rest again.

Inu Yasha landed gracefully in the middle of what looked like a town square. Stone paved ground stretched to the stone buildings with wooden roofs. All the windows were dark and empty; all signs that looked like they would be to shops were rolled up and set safely next to locked doors, and the only sign of life were stray dogs prancing happily in the moonlight.

"Hey! Can we get some help here?" Inu Yasha called out just as Kirara landed next to him. He gave a little jounce to the boy in his arms. "I need you to stay awake for me kid."

Only his own echoes, the barking of stray dogs, and the bizarre beeping from earlier that had yet to cease answered his call.

"Everyone must be sleeping." Miroku reasoned as he hopped off. "Let's knock on all the doors to find a warm place where we can take care of him." He looked around curiously and murmured: "Where's that sound coming from?"

Everyone immediately spread out and began to knock on the doors of the buildings in the middle of the square, then figured out they were shops, not actual houses, and went to the back alleyways. Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou were ignored, or if someone did open the door, they would slam the door on them without saying a word as soon as the desperate travelers started talking.

"It's no good, no one will listen to us!" Shippou explained from Kagome's arms.

"Their hospitality is less than honorable," Miroku said disdainfully. "Not even willing to help one of their own."

"Where's Inu Yasha?" Sango asked suddenly.

Said demon had stopped at the outskirts of the maze of alleyways. "Hey, this kid needs help, wake up!" He kicked the door. "If you don't answer this door I'll tear it down!"

The blur finally let out an enraged jingle and flew into a dark window of the house in front of him. There were the sounds of groans before a small shriek of surprise. Than a light went on inside and the sound of footsteps came towards the door. It flew open to reveal a stout man with striped pajamas staring in horror at the wrapped, bleeding boy and the demon carrying him. He yelled back into the house in an odd rolling language that was answered by a female exclamation and rustling.

"This kid needs help, we just need-"

The man ushered them in with his hand and the same rolling language and Inu Yasha immediately followed. He looked at the top of the wooden stairs to see a plump woman standing on a wooden platform waving down to him to come where she was. He ignored the stairs and jumped straight up onto to platform. (Earning wide-eyed stares and open mouths) He laid the still warm and bleeding boy onto the elevated bed with only an upturned blanket just as he heard his name being called out.

"In here!" He yelled.

A few moments later Kagome came in carrying her first aid kit followed by Sango with Kirara, and Miroku with Shippou. Kagome immediately ran up the stairs and knelt down next to the approximately queen-sized bed. Inu Yasha immediately set to work untying and unwrapping the boy as Kagome opened her tin container and took out supplies. Down on the first floor, Miroku was trying to smooth things over with the older couple.

The couple stared in confusion at the man wearing odd robes and speaking in the odd dialect. They turned to each other.

"John, are you sure it was such a good idea to let these strange people in?" the woman whispered.

"Don't be silly Delia, they're the only ones who can help that boy."

The fairy from before flew up to John and Delia, hovering a foot in front of them.

"I want to thank you for letting us in to help Link," she said pleasantly. "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"Oh it's no trouble at all." Delia smiled. "Tell me, what's your name? You're a fairy, aren't you?"

"I am Navi, Fairy servant of the great Deku Tree." The small fairy lowered herself in an action that could be inferred as a bow. "These people are travelers we met on the way here. As you can see, they don't speak Hylian."

"So they speak a outside language?" John asked. "Is it one that isn't registered in the database?"

Navi froze for a moment before coming a tiny bit closer. "Come again?"

"Well, even though the text comes up as Japanese (well, whatever language the country translates the game to) we actually speak Hylian, so if these travelers are not from Hyrule, then they might speak one of the outside languages."

"All you have to do is change the text to fit their language." Delia added. "Unless they speak a language the game hasn't been translated to."

Navi hovered for a moment. She sweat-dropped, and developed a tic on her forehead.

"God. Damn stupid, mother…" she mumbled as she took out a N64 controller and pressed a few buttons. A clear screen with strange writing, and a highlighter popped up. The highlighter scrolled through the options several times and pressed English.

Navi turned to the now speechless Miroku and Shippou. "Can you understand me now?"

"You speak?" Miroku asked in surprise.

"Why didn't you just do that before?" John asked.

Navi was silent for a few moments. "Dramatic affect?"

"You forgot, didn't you?" Delia accused.

"…Shut up." Navi grumbled as she flew back to the loft.

"Sango, give me your water." Kagome commanded.

The woman handed Kagome her canteen of water. The younger girl poured some water onto the cloth she had and began to quickly clean the wound on his face, and his arm. The boy squirmed and flinched away from the cloth before Sango put a restraining hand on his chest.

"Don't squirm so much, otherwise she won't be able to help you."

The boy stopped squirming, but he did not stop flinching occasionally when his wound was touched. His face contorted in pain, and he sniffed as tiny tears began to prick in his eyes.

"Hey, real men don't cry, so quit that!" Inu Yasha commanded.

"Don't be so hard on him." Sango chastised, and sat next to the bed. "He's in pain, let him cry if that helps."

Kagome sighed as she took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "He's probably going to need to cry in a second."

Sango nodded.

It was around this time that Link found he could understand the words spoken by the travelers. He looked in confusion at the girl wearing the strange white shirt as she looked over to the pretty woman with brown hair from earlier.

"Sango," the girl said. "Do you think you can distract him for a moment?"

Sango grasped his uninjured hand and smiled in apprehensive comfort. "This is going to hurt," she said in a soft voice, "but I'll need you to be strong, okay little boy?"

The boy looked up at her dejectedly and looked down with such a downcast expression, that it nearly broke the girl's hearts. Inu Yasha leered lightly.

"This won't hurt as much as those attacks you went through, so don't be such a baby."

"Inu Yasha!" both girls glared.

"What?"

"You don't need to remind him what he's just been through!" Kagome huffed indignantly. "Honestly."

"Relax," Navi came up to the group and hovered above the boy. "A little incident like that won't traumatize him."

"See?" Inu Yasha said.

"Those Stalchildren don't even carry any poison, and they weren't _nearly_ half the size as Queen Gohma!" she zipped to the boys face. "Right Link? If you weren't so tired from running all that way, you probably could have taken those guys out no problem! So what are you afraid of now?"

The boy called Link looked up and snorted at the fluttering fairy and weakly nodded.

"Alright, he's ready." She fell back. "Do what you need to do." She sat on Inu Yasha's shoulder. "Although the idea of pain usually doesn't get to him. I wonder what the matter is."

Inu Yasha shrugged the fairy off. Navi perched herself onto the dog-man's head. Inu Yasha flicked off the pest. Navi flew back and hit the forehead of the irritable youth. Inu Yasha glared.

"Would you leave me alone!?"

"I just want to sit, dog-boy!"

"Well it doesn't have to be on me, you bug!"

"_Bug_!?" she screeched and flashed. "I'll have you know I was the Great Deku Tree's most respected Fairy! You have no right to call me a _bug_!"

"Well don't call me dog-boy! The name's Inu Yasha."

"Well _Inu Yasha_, I would prefer you to use my name as well! It's Navi, or is that too much for your brain to comprehend?"

"Oh that's it you pest, I'm gonna-"

"Stop it!" Sango glowered at the two. "Can't you save this for some other time?"

"Why should we?" both asked at the same time.

The sudden outburst of pain from Link silenced the bickering pair into slightly embarrassed submission as the hospitable couple from earlier came from down below.

"Goodness!" Delia gasped. "What are you doing to him?"

"Don't worry," Kagome assured, "These medicines will help him."

She applied the chemical filled cloth once more to the gashes on his face, earning a hiss and wince. Sango held his hand tighter.

"But he's in pain!" the woman argued. "How do you expect to help him like _that_?"

Delia took a clay pot from the wall next to the bed, and held it upside down over the boy.

"Everyone stand back!" She commanded. "I'm not letting this poor boy suffer any more then he already has!"

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked in panic and shielded the boy with her body. "We can still save him, we have to give him a fighting chance!"

The woman blinked at her. "Well of course dear, what do you think I'm doing? If I tried to hand it to him I would absorb it."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Sango asked.

"I'm trying to give this dying boy a heart of course." The woman frowned. "The poor dear is on his last one, the least I can do is quell his beeping heart before you insist on torturing him again."

"What is this woman talking about?" Shippou muttered as he and Miroku came up the stairs.

"Miss," Miroku spoke warily, "are you insinuating that that odd noise we've been hearing is this boy's heart?"

"Well of course!" John spoke up next to him. "What else do you suppose it is?"

"Now stand back!" Delia barked.

Against their better judgment, the travelers did just that, and watched as the woman shook the pot above the patient. They looked on in surprise as they saw a red shape slowly tumble its way out of the opening of the jar. The foreign group was puzzled when they saw that the shape was indeed that of a heart.

The heart slowly floated its way down to the boy below, and everyone watched in breathless anticipation as it swayed dangerously far from the boy, back and forth. It seemed to be made of something akin to air, more than a solid, despite the deceitful bright red exterior. The beeping from the gasping boy on the bed served as a reminder as to why this 'heart' was released in the first place as it descended at a painfully suspenseful rate. After the longest three seconds of everybody's life, the heart finally ceased its rocking motion and landed on the bed, just shy of the injured body.

Everyone stared. Delia picked up Link's arm, and landed it right on top of the heart.

The group leaned in closer in wonder when the heart appeared again for a second above the boy's head, then disappeared. The long deep slashes quickly shrank to half the previous size on his upper arm, and the side of his face. The smaller scratches nearly disappeared on the rest of his body, and the beeping that had been echoing all this time immediately quieted and slowed, though it did not disappear completely.

"Amazing!" Sango gasped.

"Whoa, how'd he do that?" Shippou wondered.

"Even Inu Yasha can't heal that fast!" Kagome realized.

"So this is the power of the Hearts of your world?" Miroku asked John.

"You all make it sound like some sort of magic trick." John laughed. "They're just hearts, nothing special. You can find them all over the place."

"Are you _serious_?" Inu Yasha looked down to the boy in shock. "Do you have another one? Looks like he could use one."

John looked up in contemplation. "You know what? I think we do." He walked downstairs.

A gasping breath from Link drew everyone's attention. Navi fluttered in front of him.

"How ya feelin' big guy?"

Link looked up to her with a half- hearted grin. He held out his hand and flipped up his two front fingers in a victory sign enthusiastically.

"_There_ we go!" Navi jingled and glowed brighter. "I certainly hope a little incident like that wouldn't hurt. The Great Deku Tree would be pretty disappointed to see his appointed hero fail before his mission was complete."

Link glared in annoyance at her with a pulsing vein, and flicked her away.

"Hey!" John called. "Down here. I can't remember which one it is."

"Come on Link!" Navi said. "You're going to have to take out your sword…" she took a moment to look around for the missing item. "Where is your sword anyway? I haven't seen your shield either."

Inu Yasha blinked. "Sword? … oh."

" 'Oh'?" Navi hovered close to the boy's turned face. "Do _you_ know where Link's sword and shield are?"

"They're… outside. I left them behind when I took him into here." He admitted.

"…You left them outside." Navi repeated dully. She jingled angrily and zoomed to his face. "Idiot! Those are very important weapons of the Kokiri! How could you let that happen!?"

"I had to!" He defended. "The kid was dying, and those things were just an annoyance. What's a little kid like his doing carrying those things any-"

"Link!" Shippou suddenly exclaimed.

Said boy had already jumped out of the bed and shot past the others.

"Link, come back!" Kagome called. "You're not healed enough yet to go- LINK!!"

The boy sprinted straight off the edge of the loft, avoiding the attempted grabs at him. He sailed over the room and rolled into an easy landing on the ground. He sprung back up and ran out the door with Navi tagging after him, quicker than John could reach for them on the ground.

"Damn that kid!" Inu Yasha cursed as he dropped down and followed suit.

Sango and Miroku pursued the others and Shippou and Kagome stayed and looked on worriedly with John and Delia.

"Oh, I hope they're alright." The older woman murmured.

"Oh don't worry about them." Kagome smiled confidently. "Inu Yasha and the others will be able to get him back no problem."

"It's not them I'm worried about." The woman sighed. "It's that boy and fairy. What on earth could they be doing all the way out here? Why would they risk facing the monsters to leave the sanctuary of their forest?"

John nodded in agreement while he came up the stairs. "For the kokiri to do something like this…. It's very unusual…"

"Kokiri?" Shippou asked curiously from Kagome's shoulder, and both looked to the couple curiously. "Navi said that before too. What are they?"

"They are the race of children that live in the great forest across from here." John explained. "They are more like forest spirits then anything. They are very peaceful and fun-loving. They live under the protection of the Great Deku Tree while they take care of the forest."

"That's amazing… I've never heard of anything like them." Kagome admitted.

"Hey Kagome..." Shippou whispered somewhat urgently.

She nodded and smiled at the couple. "I see, thank you for the information. And thank you again for your help."

"Oh not at all dear! Anything to help." Delia assured.

"I'd better go pack my things."

"Of course, you go right ahead."

The couple walked down while smiling to each other.

"I haven't seen you that determined before." John praised. "That's my wife." He smiled and kissed her.

"Oh stop, you were pretty heroic yourself, my husband." He kissed him back.

Kagome sighed happily at the descending pair. "They really do love each other."

"Kagome." He reminded.

"Oh, right, what is it Shippou?"

"It's just… Kagome, do you think that whatever the reason Link and Navi left the forest could be the reason why we're here too?"

Kagome gave a small gasp. "I never even thought of that!" she whispered. "Now that you mention it though, it might. Both of them are unusual things that happened at the same time."

"Navi even mentioned something about a queen, and she referred to that 'mission' the Deku Tree gave 'em. Do you think they really could be related?"

"I don't know, but… something doesn't feel right. What ever is going on, I get the feeling that we're a part of it, whether we like it or not."


	4. Questions arise

"Jeez, hold still!" a certain runaway kicked and twisted heartily as the older and stronger boy's grip tightened around his middle. "Damn this kid is stubborn!"

Miroku and Sango sighed at the sight of Inu Yasha holding Link hostage in front of the closed huge, wooden town gate. Miroku leaned casually against the gray stone building next to them while Sango stood upright with a hand on her hip.

"Just let us out to get the weapons _you_ so graciously left behind, you thoughtless numbskull!" Navi screeched.

"And let you get attacked by those zombies again? Fat chance!" he retorted. "Though I don't see why I bother to protect an ingrate like _you_!"

"This is getting ridiculous." Sango murmured and strolled up to them. "Inu Yasha, you get the weapons, I'll hold onto him."

"Pfft, fine by me. He's a handful." He commented, looking down at the struggling child.

The irritated teen straightened and tossed the boy with ridiculous ease and accuracy. The woman caught him with equal skill, even managing to catch him under the legs and back.

"He's your problem now." He huffed.

The silver hair and red clothes flashed in the moonlight as he leaped from the confines of the dark shadow cast from the gate. Link looked up in wonder at the crouched form that turned mostly black against the light of the moon and stars as he disappeared over the gate.

"You really should try to hold still," Sango chided.

"Otherwise you'll stretch your injuries even further." Miroku added.

Link just looked at them and crossed his arms, huffing and looking away.

Inu Yasha landed easily on the green grass of the field. After only a moment of searching into the silent, chilly night, he spotted them. The strewn sword belonging to Link and that stupid bug glinted in the moonlight, with the dark wood next to it. He sauntered over, picked up the two items, and turned back to leave. With no problems whatsoever.

He stopped suddenly and narrowed his eyes as he extended his senses around him. His flashing golden eyes scanned the pale silver grass and bushes, and his white ears twitched as he strained his hearing, though they only picked up the wind and the occasional clicking of insects.

Silence.

There were no onlookers, no hiding bodies, no telltale scents. He was completely alone… but why? He looked to the small shining blade with the rather undersized handle, and the dark wood of the shield with the red geometric spiral insignia. There was nothing special or dangerous about them. He took off and leaped back over while he considered the rather weak child he had to save against the skeletons.

_But why were they after the kid?_

Link rested in silent obedience in Sango's arms with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Ugh, why did they have to treat him like some helpless little kid?

Inu Yasha hopped back over and held out the sword and shield in each hand. "You looking for these?"

Link whooped and grinned and hopped out of the woman's arms before taking the sword and shield. They suddenly crossed over each other and floated in midair when he threw his arms above him.

"Alright! You got the Kokiri sword and shield back!" Navi jingled excitedly over a sudden blast of victory music. "These are very important weapons of the forest entrusted by the Deku Tree himself; don't lose them again!"

All three of the onlookers could do nothing but blink dumbly for a moment.

"…Am I the only one who heard that?" Inu Yasha asked about the… _thing_ that played when the weapons suddenly started showing magical floating properties.

Both his friends shook their heads.

"Hey, you're back!" Shippou called when the four companions entered the home.

" 'Course we came back." Inu Yasha snapped irritably. "It's not like we were going into battle or anything."

"Well no need to get snappy." Kagome scowled. "He was just welcoming you back."

"I wasn't being snappy." He argued.

"Yes you were!"

Link ignored them and sliced into a brown and white clay pot next to him. By sheer dumb luck it happened to be the very heart he was looking for. He stepped on it, making it pop above his head, and he sighed in relief. The boy's wounds instantly healed for the most part. All that remained was a thin dark pink line where the major cuts on his face and arm were. He walked up to the couple and gave a small bow.

"Thank you for your help." Navi piped up. "I don't know what we would have done if it wasn't for you.

"Oh don't be silly," Delia smiled at the fairy and boy, "We couldn't just leave you by yourself!"

"Yeah, and the fact that we were there is completely irrelevant." Inu Yasha grumbled. It turned into an exclamation of annoyed pain when his holy friend rapped him smartly across the head with his staff.

"Still," Navi continued, "We truly appreciate it. Well, we shouldn't bother you any more than we already have, so we'll leave-"

"What? But where will you go?" John interrupted. "You _must_ spend the night."

"Oh no," Sango suddenly spoke up, holding out a protesting hand. "That would be far too much trouble for you."

"Nonsense!" Delia argued. "If anything, to send you out in the middle of the night would trouble us even more! I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink wondering if you all were alright."

"I see your very valid point, we shall take up your offer." Miroku agreed with a charming smile. "It would be rude of us to refuse such hospitality from kind folk like yourselves."

"Of course _he_ would agree." Shippou muttered.

Kagome just shushed him.

Delia changed the bloody sheets of the main bed, where the couple stayed, while everyone stayed downstairs. Sango, Kagome, and Shippou slept curled on the floor, while the men sat against the walls. It was easy to communicate since there were no walls, which of course also included no privacy, though that did not bother anyone. Everyone was already in the clothes they wished to sleep in. In fact the only ones that seemed to be having trouble with sleep was a certain small boy with his fairy.

Link stayed far from their new acquaintances, sitting up against the wall while Navi sat on his shoulder. Neither of the pair spoke a word, but became lost in his and her somber thoughts. The fairy's blue light had even dimmed to a nearly non-existent glow, revealing a miniature woman. Her light green hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head, which both contrasted with and complimented her bright red-orange eyes. Her tiny tan body was covered by a long, ragged brown dress that ended at her shins.

The 'roomates' next to them took a while, but they eventually drifted to sleep. All except for a certain suspicious teen however. While Link kept his eyes glued to the floor, Inu Yasha kept his own eyes on the insomniac boy. It only took ten more minutes or so for morning to come. Naturally everyone who had already fallen asleep did not wake up, but three people now would have found it difficult to sleep even if they tried. Only when the sun's bright rays peeked through the windows did Link sense being watched and finally looked up to see Inu Yasha scrutinizing him. He jerked involuntarily in surprise from the shock and intensity of the gaze. Inu Yasha only narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What're you looking at?" Navi hissed.

"…hmph, not much." He whispered in response.

He dropped his gaze and leaned back, lowering his head, and allowing himself a bit of nodding off before the others awoke, leaving a confused fairy and kokiri child to stare at him.


	5. Gathering Information

"Not once? Not even something that sounds similar? Maybe China, or Thailand? Maybe Asia?"

The vendor shook his head apologetically, shaking his graying hair and long pointed ears. "Sorry miss, can't say I have."

"I see… Thank you."

Kagome smiled and bowed in appreciation; though as she trudged across the cobblestone she sighed dejectedly.

"Oh, _now_ what're we gonna do…" Shippou whined. "That's gotta be everyone in the whole town!"

"I don't know. I guess we just keep going and ask around."

The girl was slowly returning to her bike where she left it, but the crowd that had formed around the foreign pink contraption intimidated her. She looked about nervously and slowly, _inconspicuously_ (because she was just that good by now) remained back from the crowd, looking for reinforcements to come and aid her when she would need it.

"These clothes are truly unique." Sango mused as she held out the blue cloth for inspection. "Of poor quality, but interesting material nonetheless."

Kirara mewed in curiosity from the human shoulder and tilted her head. The female shopkeeper twitched at the backhanded comment to her products.

"Your opinion is highly regarded. Have you decided on your purchase?"

"Hm, I don't think I will buy anything."

"Then I must insist you leave."

The woman straightened, affronted at the non-too-subtle rejection.

She turned on her heal from the crudely constructed stand in favor of going for the crowd gathered around the brick planted island in the middle of the town square. "_Really_."

"Oh my, what colors."

"Mommy, mommy, can I touch him?"

"Oh, I want his hair!"

A single clawed finger tapped on a bouncing leg. A dark eyebrow twitched incessantly, and the quietest of snarls sneaked past the ground fangs. Finally he snapped.

"Don't you all have somethin' _better_ t' do?"

The crowd that had gathered around to stop and stare all backed up instantly at the barking command. Parents ushered their children away as Inu Yasha bid them all farewell with murderous eyes. Except for a completely oblivious couple that kept dancing behind him, but they were not bothering him, so he could stand them being there. On the plus side, Kagome's bicycle was now free for her to claim.

"Inu Yasha, try to be nice." Kagome chided and put her hands on her hips as she stepped to join her bike again. "They weren't hurting anyone."

"They were being damned annoying." He growled.

"Well the people here are pleasant enough to you, and you should try to be gracious."

"_I_ still need to be convinced."

The three looked at the approaching brunette, curious at her unpleasant scowl.

"The vendors here don't treat their customers fairly."

"Kch, she probably just didn't like your insults to her goods." Inu Yasha pointed out.

"I was not _insulting_ her." Sango huffed. "I was merely appraising."

"Whatever."

This was, as the adventure gang had quickly found out, Hyrule Castle Market, in the very center of Hyrule Castle Town. There were very many people, with children running everywhere while their parents did the shopping. Music played from the minstrel band off in the corner, dogs barked, things that looked like chickens pecked, and people laughed and gossiped. The sunshine was bright and invigorating in the blue sky, and everyone was happy. Except Inu Yasha, for he was busy glaring at a small girl that did not have enough sense to move away.

"What're _you_ lookin' at?"

The little girl wore a simple outfit: a short sleeve dress draping over her red brown boots and reaching her ankles. An orange scarf wrapped around her shoulders, and remained on thanks to a metal clasp with the face of a monster. Her bright blue eyes looked up curiously to him with her whole body leaned forward in scrutiny. She tilted her head to the side, moving her bright scarlet hair and long pointed ears.

"What are you?"

"Stubborn is what he is." Shippou jabbed from Kagome's shoulders, though she shushed him.

"What's it matter to you?" He looked away, hoping it would discourage her. "I'm busy thinking', get lost."

"But where are you from?"

"Not around here."

"From which way?"

"Are you ever gonna leave me _alone_?"

"Where's Link?" Kagome asked suddenly as she looked around. "He still hasn't returned."

Sango and Shippou searched around the square for the alerting ball of bouncing light, or the all green clothing but saw nothing.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Sango assured to herself and the others. "He and Navi are supposed to have a lot of work to do, remember? He's probably very busy."

"_Focus_…" the jingling fairy whispered in his ear. "This is your only chance to get this right."

Grimly the boy nodded in determination. He spread his feet just a little more, adjusted his hold just a little bit, and narrowed his eyes just enough for dramatic effect. He took a deep breath. With careful precision, he set down the bomchu. The pair watched breathless as the blue whiskered contraption zoomed along its zigzag path down the floor and up the wall, to explode on the black circle.

_Ding ding ding ding ding!_

"Yahoo!"

Navi danced and bounced about as Link jumped up and down with joyous satisfaction.

"Great, let's see what else they have here." Navi suggested.

Link nodded and whistled as he they left the alley to do just that.

"True." Shippou agreed. "But has anyone seen Miroku either?"

Sango abruptly turned sour at the mention.

"Dya need to ask?" Inu Yasha scoffed. "He's probably "introducing"  
himself to the local women."

"Inu Yasha!" Kagome hissed.

"I'm just sayin'. I mean what else can the useless lecher do?"

Indignantly she huffed and crossed her white puff sleeved arms. "Sit boy."

Link happened out of the door of the bomchu alley just as he came upon the scene unfolding. The black rosary beads resting around Inu Yasha's red-clad neck glowed for a moment before he suddenly fell face first into the pavement. Navi giggled shamelessly.

"What a dolt. Falling off the center like that- face first even! I knew he couldn't be too bright, but really."

"I heard that, you stupid gnat!"

"_Gnat_!?" she jingled and shot to where the prone half-demon lay. "Say that again to my face, you lousy cur!"

"Glowing fly!"

"Stupid dog!"

"Talking Mosquito!"

"Have some faith in Miroku Inu Yasha," said Kagome. "Even _he_ knows when it's time to be serious. He's probably working hard at gathering information like the rest of us."

"Hello there miss," came the friendly smooth voice, catching the attention of a pretty young maiden. "Might I bother you for a roll? Fresh out of the oven this morning."

The shopper stopped by the stall in consideration, and the light haired, pointy-eared, completely Hylian male worked not to grin in triumph. Score, fifth one today! He was getting good at this.

Shippou was completely baffled. "Kagome, you know better'n anyone Miroku would-"

He hushed at Kagome's glare, and followed where she indicated with her head. His eyes caught the huffed Sango and nodded in sudden enlightenment.

"Well, if you're not going to answer," said the bright scarlet-haired girl, "I'm going back to the castle now. Honestly, Father's taking too long. I guess he fell asleep again."

"Castle?" Navi stopped her argument and repeated.

The boy and his fairy looked to each other, stared for a moment in confusion, and then simultaneously gawked.

"The castle!" Navi jingled. "_That's_ where we're supposed to go!" the pair ran up to the girl, giving no heed to the young man next to them on the dirt. "Which way is the castle?"

The girl rose her left hand to point across her body to her right. "Just that-"

"Thanks- bye!" _Shoop!_

"Wa-wait!" The girl's eyes widened and she waved her hand in protest as she hurried after them, "I have a favor to ask you!"

"Watch where you're going!" Inu Yasha finally yelled as he raised his flattened, shoe-print seared head.

"Is it safe for them to go alone?" Kagome wondered aloud.

"I don't see why not." Sango soothed, grateful for the change in topic, "the girl at least seems to know what she's doing."

The Temple was immaculate. Clean, carefully sculpted marble shone white from the rays of sunlight cast through the windows high along the walls. Even the dreary gray stones varied in tone and hue for each block, giving the most subtle array of color. Miroku's black and purple robes made the stone even whiter to the eyes as he knelt upon what he believed a ceremonial pad. A hexagon rose not half a foot from the stone floor, with a giant triangle engraved in the center. A similar one, he had noticed, above the entrance door outside, and above the engraving on the wall behind the black granite pedestal. It certainly must be some religious symbol, of course which kind he was not sure. At the moment, his staff rested in front of him, his eyes were closed, and his hands folded in prayer.

There was a strange power here that had called to him even from the town square. It was calming, powerful and cleansing. Yet it was not overwhelming; only humbling. This strange unnamable force echoed through the halls and coursed through his mortal body to calm his soul. It was as though a chorus of his lost brethren chanted a hymn from along the path before him. It never occurred to him that this might just actually be another strange property of this world.

The massive door creaking open actually startled him, though he only opened his eyes. A tiny gasp of surprise that amplified through the stone interior made him turn around to see a girl that must have been at least ten years old standing in the half pushed door. Cerulean eyes blinked in surprise at the unexpected patron. Her pristine white shirt practically shone against the gray of the stone, dampened only by the embroidery of brown leaves and swirls along her collar and the hem of her skirt. The daylight of the outside shone around her form and short golden hair.

"Well hello there." Miroku greeted, and his friendly voice echoed through the temple. "Did I startle you?"

"I… was not expecting company." the girl murmured in response, earning a much smaller echo.

"Well, I do believe there is more than enough room for two bodies. Though I really will be wrapping up soon anyway; I have been gone a while."

The young man turned back to his form, and mentally resumed his prayer.

After a moment of indecision, the girl stepped to the side and pushed the door closed. Her smooth leather shoes were soft against the stone as she ambled along the carpet, feeling both curious and suspicious. She stopped a moment beside the man, appraising him to see if he was truly as harmless as he seemed.

"You do not trust a humbly praying monk?"

The girl jumped as he opened one eye to twinkle in amusement at her, and her reservations dropped as she appropriately became bashful.

"I apologize, it was rude of me to stare."

"Not at all. It seems visitors to this place are rare. I can understand your reservations."

"Increasingly rare." She affirmed. "Especially human ones."

Feeling that the man could be trusted here at least, the girl strolled more at ease along the plush red path. She stopped in front of the granite pedestal at the end of the carpet, and brought her hands together to pray.

"Perhaps you can help me."

The girl stopped mid-prayer to turn. The man that dubbed himself the humble monk purposefully strode along the red as well, staff in hand. When he reached the same level with her, his right hand pointed to the white symbols engraved upon the black stone.

"This inscription here; what does it read?"

The girl looked from the blue beads wrapped around his hand and wrist to the pedestal he indicated, engraved with the Hylian script.

"You are a traveler." She guessed as she glanced back up to him.

"I am. A wandering holy man who has happened to find himself lost here."

She considered this as her eyes traveled back to the slate.

"It reads: O bearer of the three stones, place your treasure here and play your song. Only then shall the door of time be opened."

"Instructions then," he concluded, "for either a ceremony or a ritual of some sort."

"You are sure of this?" The girl asked lightly.

"Well," his lips quirked as he released his serious gaze, "I can only assume the religious customs of this country. It does not really concern me anyway." He looked up at the black triangle resting above the carved sun in the wall. "It's just my everlasting curiosity. However, I have more important things to worry myself about. I hope you find peace in this prayer session."

There was a slight nod in his head at the farewell. He turned and headed back down the path to the exit as the girl turned back to gaze up at the black Holy Triangles above the door.

"Monk."

His hand paused just before reaching the door and he turned at her call.

"Might I have your name?"

"Miroku. I am Miroku the monk."

"Miroku…" the girl turned from the carving to look to him. "I thank you for your company."

"Not at all. I thank you for helping satiate my curiosity-" he bowed forward, "Princess Zelda."

The girl stiffened.

"You knew." The celebrated Princess of Hyrule accused the simple monk.

"I suspected, the more you spoke, and acted," he corrected. "A normal village girl cannot possibly be so intuitive and knowledgeable without some sort of well upbringing. Even now you are standing straighter with fear, instead of hiding in yourself. I have heard many good things about you from the townsfolk, and made an educated guess."

"I see." The young princess relaxed her posture, but not her wary gaze. "I suppose I just fell into my higher habits, while conversing with yours."

"Hard habits to break, in a temple," he pulled open the door, "If it will put your mind at ease, I will tell no one whom I saw here."

"I thank you for that."

"But in return-"

Her face hardened.

"Can you tell me of any strange phenomena that have happened in this land recently? Sightings or events not considered normal for this place? Things that have not been released to the public so as not to cause worry?"

"I cannot." Zelda cast her eyes down, almost regrettably. "There has been nothing but peace for the last ten years. Nothing to cause any stirring."

"I see. Good day, young miss." He saluted as he closed the door.

The sunlight greeted him with a blinding assault and he took a moment to let his eyes adjust. As the shut the door behind him, Miroku sighed.

"A shame, such a lovely girl too. Ah well, there are plenty more out there I suppose."

He shrugged at the hopelessness and walked away from the towering temple. Instantly he whirled about and shot a long piece of paper into the bushes just behind the peculiarly Cyclops painted stones. Nothing happened.

"Strange." He murmured as he turned to the stairs to head back down. "Could have sworn I heard something."

In the bushes, a wriggling shadow slowly dissolved and died.

"Miroku, where have you been?" Shippou called out, alerting the others of his presence.

"Gathering information."

"Yeah?" one thick eyebrow from Inu Yasha rose in question. "Information on _what_, exactly?"

"This place of course. Have you all been waiting long?"

"No, we just got here." Kagome informed. "Link took off down that way."

"That way?" he followed the pointing finger. "To the castle?"

"Yeah probably off on his mission to see the queen."

"The queen?"

"Ah, well, it's just a theory." Kagome amended. "Remember when Link and Navi were talking last night?"

"Now that you mention it," Sango tapped her fist to her hand, "There was something they were supposed to do." Her dark eyes drifted to where the hazy image of a great stone building lay in the distance. "I never guessed it would be with royalty."

"Not to mention the kokiri never stray from the forest." Miroku added. "So whatever it is must be important, though it can't be with the Queen."

The others turned to Miroku. Inu Yasha blinked.

"Say again?"

"The Queen of Hyrule died a few years ago. Only King Daphne and his daughter remain."

"And you know all this _how_?"

"I told you before, I was gathering information."

"You were serious?" Shippou asked with awe. "We thought that was just a cover for your womanizing!"

The honorable monk frowned. "Now really, that's not fair. Do you truly feel my personality- my _character-_ to be so flat, that's all I ever think about?"

"Duh."

"Well, it's not. This is a very important crisis right now, and I was doing all I could to help."

Sango at first was not one to believe him, but at the same time, he did seem fairly knowledgeable on the area now.

"Miroku I'm… quite impressed." She admitted.

The monk honed in on her pleasantly surprised expression and hurried to her to lift her hands.

"Sango," said woman blushed as one of the monk's hands gently cupped her shoulder, "to hear such a compliment from you truly makes my self control a blessing to counter-act this cursed wandering hand. Perhaps if I heard more praise I could- Yatah!"

He twitched and twittered as Sango pinched the hand that had slowly been traveling down to her hips. She leered dryly at him as she held the hand up to his face and then released him in favor of turning to leave.

"Try a little more of that self control before making that offer."

Miroku looked at his covered hand, where he could not see, but certainly sense where a bruise would develop. He snapped his attention back up and hurried to follow eagerly.

"Wait, that means if I try, you'll consider it?"

"I-" Sango flushed as she realized her words. "I didn't say that-"

"But you didn't refuse either."

"I- that's not how I meant it!"

"He'll never change." Inu Yasha muttered.

"Tell me about it." Shippou agreed.

Kagome said nothing as she looked from the distant castle to the temple steps.

* * *

Alrighty, Whoohoo! Chapter 5, hope you all enjoyed that little tidbit. You may say nothing happened, but everything happened in here! Forshadowing, building, creating- all happens in this chapter folks! ... Okay, not really, but it is important.

If there are mistakes, I apologize. This is a fun story... that will get a tad more serious later on, but it's not a huge project I'm gonna devote all my time and effort into. This is for your entertainment only. In which case, I'm sorry for the long update. The very long update. Ridiculously long actually. My problem was I had no idea where I wanted to go... now I do, so it's all good. And life I guess, but eh, who cares about that?

Until next time!


	6. He obviously won't be a spy

"So you go into the castle a lot?" Navi clarified.

"Well, not a lot." The bright haired girl amended, "Just when dad needs a lot of help unloading. Still, I do know this castle pretty well." She turned and winked at them with her finger to her lips. "Just don't tell anyone alright?"

Link nodded eagerly.

"Good. Now listen carefully. Go up those vines," she pointed to a collection on the face of the cliff, "and run to the bridge. Don't go across though. There will be a ladder that leads to a watch room, it's _always_ empty. Come out, and stay against the cliff, I'll meet you there. Got all that?"

Link nodded excitedly. Navi closed in on her.

"And just how are _you_ getting there?"

The girl giggled. "Climb up those vines, and watch this."

So the boy and his fairy followed the girl up the dirt path, though stayed around the corner to the wall of growth the girl indicated. Grabbing a hold of them and climbing up was no problem, Link had done this many times before. As soon as he hoisted himself up, Link crawled to the edge to get a good look at the hinted spectacle.

"Excuse me."

The guard stationed at the gate looked curiously at her. Or maybe impassively, or even possibly with annoyance. Link and Navi couldn't tell, the helmet hid too much of his face.

"Has my father come out yet from his business?" the girl asked sweetly.

"I am sorry to say no, can't say he has."

The girl huffed and crossed her arms.

"Oh honestly, I've been waiting out here all day for him! I swear, if he makes me sleep here tonight again, I am _so_ gonna let him have it! Useless lug is probably sleeping on the job again." She turned worried. "Oh, what am I gonna do? I'm just a little girl, I can't stay in the town alone. Gosh I'm scared."

"Would you like me to send someone to find him?"

"Oh, that'd be great! Except…" the girl fidgeted. "He's really hard to wake up. I mean not just anyone can do it."

"I see. Well, I don't want to have to leave you alone for tonight. I'll let you through my point at least without a problem. You'll have to talk to the other guards to see if you can find him."

"Oh thank you so much!"

Her joyous expression turned into confusion when he stuck out his hand expectantly.

"Ten rupees is my price."

"Huh?"

Her heart broken countenance was not enough to move the guard.

"But-"

"I don't do this job for the pay. I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

"Hmph!"

The girl whirled indignantly and stormed away. _Really!_

"My offer still stands."

Link and Navi followed the girl's progress with their eyes and sighed.

"So much for that idea…" Navi jerked up and looked ahead. "Guess we'll have to do this without her."

Link nodded and backed up to the middle of the grassy plain. With his heart already thumping and his adrenaline already pumping, he ran ahead to attempt to sneak into Hyrule castle.

The soft sweet melody danced around the stone hall to join the hymns playing through the temple. The disguised Princess Zelda played upon her blue instrument with care and thought and pleading while the song settled upon the stone. The final note wove through and over powered the mystical chorus, only to quiet down the temple with its finality. Zelda finally opened her cerulean eyes to gaze at door of time, looking down indifferently at her.

"You've been here longer than usual."

Zelda smiled as she lowered her sacred instrument. "I was distracted today."

"You absence is already noted," chided the tall and expectant woman. "You should make haste in returning."

"I know." The girl turned to address her. "Wait for me by the vines. I only want a little longer."

The stern woman considered this, her red eyes becoming thoughtful. After a moment, she nodded.

"Just for today."

Zelda could not hide the appreciative smile from her voice. "Thank you, Impa."

The woman bowed, and turned on her heel to step back, not making a single sound in the slightest. Zelda looked upon the sun-like carving on the wall, and let her eyes travel up the black symbolic Triforce.

_**Can you tell me of any strange phenomena that have happened in this land recently? Sightings or events not considered normal for this place**__?_

Mutely she tucked away the Ocarina in her pouch, turned on her heel, and left the temple.

_Dunk_.

"Ah!"

"And stay out!"

"You-!"

Navi whirled and zoomed angrily at the shame of the situation. Link stood uneasily and dusted himself off, right before gently rubbing his poor abused tail-bone.

"Oh, the _nerve_ of that guy! Treating us like some common rascals."

The guard standing by the gate let out a barked laughed.

"You can always try again. Twenty-third time's the charm." He howled at his own joke and at their expense.

Navi huffed. "Come on Link, let's go take a break before trying again."

Link nodded in agreement and turned in his morose exit, drowning in his shameful failure.

"Hey, this looks delicious."

Shippou brightened at the array of fruit laid out in the stalls before him. They looked so juicy and plump, and they must have been so ripe, lying out in the warm sun like this…

"Five rupees a bag." The man informed. "Finest deal around these parts."

"Five… rupees?"

Shippou's brightened face fell into dismay. Of course. Different country, different world, different money. He sighed at the unfairness of it all, as his stomach lamented with him.

"Two sacks please."

Shippou looked up at the voice to see a very pretty young girl, with a white dress, yellow hair and bright blue eyes, shuffling into one of her brown leather pouch. The vendor took out two small empty sacks and handed them to her. The tiny fox-child watched with curiosity as she took out a flat purple gem and handed it to the man. He took it and returned two red gems similar to the one the girl handed over.

Shippou blinked. That was confusing.

"Here."

He looked up at the bag the girl held out to him, and he took it with confusion, thinking maybe she wanted help in carrying it. He watched as she turned to look at all the fruit before selecting a few and placing them in her bag.

"Put as many of them in as you can, you can save them for later."

Shippou nodded eagerly, and jumped up onto the edge of the stall, so he could reach up and sort through all the fruit. He was very thorough, picking up some ripe yellow fruit, turning it all around, putting it back if it did not pass his inspection. The girl giggled behind her hand as she looked at the adorable child looking so serious before putting the last two pieces into her sack.

When they both finished Shippou hopped off, careful to hold the bag up to her

"Oh no, it's yours."

"Wait, what?" His bright emerald eyes widened. "I thought you just wanted help picking out the fruit!" He held the bag in one hand still out to her, while the other hand rested on his hip importantly. "_I_ am the great demon, Shippou. I can't accept this from a little girl so easily."

"_You're_ a demon?" the vendor asked with skepticism. "Aren't you a little-"

The little girl shushed him with an amused twinkle in her eye. The vendor shook his head with a smirk, and went back to announcing for his merchandise.

"But it's just so much." The girl pleaded her case. "A poor little girl like me couldn't possibly eat so much. I was hoping to share it…"

"Share…?"

The smaller in size child swallowed nervously as his cheeks turned pink. "W-Well I wouldn't want all the food to go to waste…"

"Great!" the girl pulled on his hand and pulled him along the cobble streets, "I know the perfect place!"

"Wah, wait!" Shippou pleaded as he hopped along in pace with the girl's exuberant strides, "Where are we going?"

"Just a nice place to enjoy the fruit, with a nice view."

"Mina!" a voice called, stopping the girl in her tracks.

She looked at the waving red head, and released Shippou's hand to wave back. "Malon!"

The two girls ran up to each other with joyous squeals, exchanging their greetings and Shippou sighed.

"What's eating you?" Inu Yasha asked.

"Nothing." He mumbled while looking at the sack in his hands. "Just hungry."

Miroku tried not to chuckle outright at the turn of events.

From the information the girls exchanged just now, Malon's expression brightened with insight.

"Oh!" She suddenly turned to Inu Yasha, "Does that mean you're a demon too?"

"Half-demon." Kagome leaned in front of Inu Yasha and corrected, earning an annoyed leer. "But he's really nice, usually."

"Neat! What kinda things can you do?" Malon asked curiously.

It was around this time Link and Navi made a second appearance to the Castle Town square. He ambled up to the odd though by now familiar ragtag group, out of curiosity to what they were doing.

"Ah, Link." Miroku greeted first. "Were you successful in meeting with the king?"

Mina stopped and turned around. The second her bright cerulean eyes caught sight of the green clad boy and the blue glow of the fairy, they widened.

"It's not the King we wanted to meet." Navi grumbled. "But we didn't even get into the castle. Couldn't get past the guards."

"You tried to sneak in?"

"Had to. It's not like they'll let us in to see royalty."

"But if it's not the king, then it is the princess you wish to meet."

"Right, we need to speak with the Princess Zelda right away. But it won't even do us any good if we can't get in."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sango sympathized.

Mina looked to her hands holding her fruit filled sack with thought as she listened to the carefully guided conversation. She had to admit the monk was clever.

Malon shrugged. "I gave you the best advice I had. Can't help you with much anything else." She plopped down on the island. "I'll wait here a little longer for dad."

"Oh, is he asleep again?" Mina asked.

"Looks like it."

"You must be hungry." Mina fished out a fruit from her sack and handed it to the girl.

"Oh, peach-pears, my favorite." She bit into the juicy fruit joyously. "Thanks!"

"Not at all. C'mon Shippou, let's go."

"Huh?"

"I still wanna have a picnic, you said you'd eat with me," she looked up at everyone, though more specifically at Link. "You can all come too, if you'd like."

"Don't mind if I do." The monk stood.

"Miroku…" Sango warned.

"Well it's only polite to accept an invitation."

"Oh please do." Mina pleaded. "I'd love to have more company."

"Why should we bother?" InuYasha asked.

"I can take you to the princess." She offered.

"You can?" Shippou looked up in awe. "Really?"

"Yes." She nodded in confidence. "Just trust me."

* * *

Phew. At least I didn't drag out the whole 'Disguised Zelda' thing too long, right? Well, considering everyone's together now, plot should pick up quick ne? And mystery of their arrival in the first place.


	7. And the love died before it bloomed

Hallo! Ladies, and gentlemen, back by popular demand, I give you the next installment of Link Finds His Voice!

* * *

If this went on any longer, InuYasha swore he would have to kill something. Arms folded, legs crossed, his clawed finger tapped impatiently against his thick sleeve and his knee bounced insistently. For the second time in less than an hour, this understanding, sweet, and patient young demon was going to rip something's eyes from it's sockets.

"…really is a delightful treat." Miroku praised.

"It is," Shippou agreed. "Sweet, but also kinda spicy."

All the eager (and even not so eager) enjoyers of the impromptu picnic sat on the grassy flat in the open air, with a perfect, lovely view of the gray-stoned and red-roofed castle towering against the blue of the sky. It was too big, and oddly built, but unimportant. InuYasha wasn't exactly sitting to enjoy the architecture. The others happily munched on the brightly colored fruit shared about the scattered little gathering, while a certain repetitive jingle of a certain aggravating 'fairy' induced another fraying shot through his nerves. Nobody deemed it safe to sit directly next to him, and granted him his own aggravated space. Kagome and Sango sat beside each other, across from Miroku and Shippou on the checkered blanket spread on the grass. Mina remained by Shippou thanks to his hinted request, and she insisted that Link sit next to her. As a result, the boy was nearest to both her, and Sango. Though he was ore focused on the food than surrounding company.

Where they exactly were was a bit of a mystery. The flat was on the same level as the top of the bridge gate, and only about ten yards away. The humans had to climb a set of vines winding up the slope of a fifteen foot dirt wall to reach the plain, without any difficulty. But if the vines were this easy to climb and get to, why didn't someone get rid of them already? Not that he really cared, but if a couple of kids and a bunch of strangers were able to get this close to the castle without a problem and no one caring, then the guard around this place was not exactly top notch.

An orange soft sphere popped into his field of vision. He blinked a second before casting confused eyes to Kagome.

"Are you sure you won't try some?" she implored. "It's only polite to try to eat a little bit."

He looked at the fruit again and frowned before turning his nose away. "Not a chance."

"Aw, c'mon InuYasha." Shippou swished his tail behind him. "You oughta try some. It's really good."

"No way."

"Well, you don't have to be rude about it." Kagome scowled.

"Why're you eating it?" He frowned as he looked at her. "We're in a place we don't know, with weird people and even weirder smellin' food. That stuff'll probably make you sick before anything-"

"InuYasha, sit boy."

In a flash of purple, his kissed the ground with a hard thud. Rather harshly, but effectively. If anyone had asked Mother Earth, she'd have assured anyone that InuYasha was truly one of her most powerful and passionate lovers. It was just a bonus that he came back to her so often, but too cruelly, he pulled away from her and glared at Kagome.

"Just' what was _that_ for?"

"You don't have to _insult_ them." the girl scowled, and turned her own head away. "If it really bothers you so much, then don't say anything." she chastised, before taking a stubborn bite of her own fruit.

Link stared, mid-chew to watch the exchange. Navi zoomed close to InuYasha curiously.

"Um, what just happened? It was that necklace, right?"

Mina glanced between the two uncertainly. "Is he alright?"

"Oh, don't worry about InuYasha," Shippou assured. "It'll take more than that to get him down."

"It's just a precaution," Miroku clarified for the confused trio. "Just in case he becomes a little out of hand."

Navi snickered, taking delight in the brief episode of pain for that darned dog-boy. "Idiot."

Mina looked at Link, who shrugged in acceptance and turned back to his own piece of fruit, which he chowed down on happily until he cleaned the pit of any remaining fruity flesh. He tossed it into his small pile where three large round seeds already lay.

"My, my, weren't you hungry?" Miroku observed, as Link paid him no heed and reached out to grab for the final one in the pile.

"Well, he's a growing boy." Sango pointed out. "He certainly needs all that energy."

The fruit stopped just in front of his mouth. He blushed, and saw all the eyes looking at him expectantly. The boy lowered the fruit and his eyes as he started to fidget under all the unexpected attention at his greedy acts.

"Hey!" Navi popped up and bopped him on the head. "Don't go being bashful and apologizing. You haven't eaten for two days, mister, you need your strength."

"Two days?" Shippou clarified.

Mina looked horrified at such a prospect. "Why so long?"

"Well, we've been traveling that long, and he hasn't had a bite to eat since we left."

"If you were traveling, why didn't you pack any food?" Sango asked.

"We did." Navi fluttered softly to the side, as Link's blush increased. "A few forest critters snuck into his bag at night and ate it all."

"Well, couldn't you have gone back to get some?" Miroku asked. "Losing strength from lack of food is not worth loosing a day."

"Thick headed pride."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Link got into a fight with Mido again. Now he refuses to go back until he gets the damn stone to the Princess. Kids."

"I know what you mean," Kagome sympathized, while InuYasha leered suspiciously at her.

"Honestly. _This_ was why I didn't want to become a guardian. It's like twenty four hour baby sitting."

Link frowned at her, and took a defiant bite of his fruit.

"I can understand that." Sango said dryly, leering at Miroku as she said this.

"That's for sure." Shippou nodded in agreement and took another munch of his own fruit. "InuYasha and Miroku are always causing trouble with no one to watch them."

"Now really," Miroku protested. "I resent such comments. I'm perfectly capable of watching after myself without getting into trouble."

"Give it up, Monk." InuYasha scoffed as he smacked the dust out of his red robes. "Ya ain't gonna win. Believe me, I tried- it ain't a fair fight."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kagome said, offended.

Mina bit her lower lip and hid her mouth behind her wrist to muffle her giggling. Shippou swelled with pride from indirectly bringing her amusement, and finished off his fruit.

"That was delicious!" he announced.

"Indeed," Miroku agreed, and set his own seed to the side of him. "Tell me then, was the picnic to your liking?"

"Yes," Mina admitted with a nod. "It was very fun. And I felt very safe."

"Safe?" Shippou looked up with wide eyes, and his tail swished in concern. "Were you scared?"

"No, no, not like that. I just wanted to test you first, to see if you were safe to bring into the castle."

"_Tsh_," InuYasha smirked. "_You_, test us? An' just what would you have done if we were dangerous, huh? A little girl like you wouldn't stand a chance against us."

"I wouldn't be the one to fight you."

Everyone stiffened and flew on guard when a tall, feminine form slid from the shadows. Lean muscle undulated under tanned skin against the gleaming blue armor over her torso and thighs with hidden power. Long ears pointed out from her head under silver hair tied at the nape of her sturdy neck. Her red eyes leered down over sliver make-up and under silver bangs, and her large red lips spoke, almost cruelly and harshly, but still calm.

"_I_ would."

"_Damn_ it." InuYasha seethed as his hand was on his hilt, already knowing he would have been too late to draw it and fight. "I didn't even sense her coming."

"As you shouldn't." she said coolly. "A Sheikah who can be sensed is just a poor imitation."

"Impa," the girl introduced briefly, so as to cut the exchange short. "My nanny and guardian."

"Of course." Miroku acknowledged, while Navi flew up, and circled about the woman curiously. "It wouldn't make sense for her to really be out here alone, would it?"

"Indeed it wouldn't, monk."

"What do you mean?" Shippou asked. He came up next to Mina. "She's just a girl." he looked up at her, almost pleadingly. "Right?"

The girl looked at his wide green eyes, his quivering lip, his swooshing tail, and gave a bashful sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry. To all of you, for deceiving you, but I had to be sure you were trustworthy before trying to speak with you. My name is not really Mina." Her bashful smile vanished as she composed herself and straightened, never moving from the floor, but suddenly holding herself with the dignity of a throne. "I am Zelda. Daughter of King Daphnes Nohanson, Princess of Hyrule."

Shippou's jaw dropped, and all hope and life drained from his face. Sango and Link blinked at the girl in surprise, Kagome gasped and dropped her fruit, and Kirara meowed. InuYasha huffed.

"What else is new?"

"Your highness." Miroku bowed. "It is an honor to finally pay my respects."

"You did well, Monk." Princess Zelda praised. "You are certainly a trustworthy individual."

"I am humbled, your highness."

"Wait, you mean you knew all along?" Shippou accused. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Her highness trusted me with the information of her identity. What sort of man would I be to betray that trust?"

"Ya didn't hit on her 'r anything, didja?" InuYasha asked.

The man bristled as Sango, Kagome, and Shippou all gave him the same accusing glares. Link tilted his head slightly in confusion. Why would he hit the Princess? A dark shadow promising death flicked from Impa's eyes.

"I assure that I did no such thing." he swore quickly. "She's a lovely young girl of high ranking, far too ambitious for a humble monk such as myself."

"Humble my butt." InuYasha scoffed to himself.

"I'd think that would make her an even greater prize for you." Sango dryly stated, and Link glanced up to her, getting the feeling that whatever this was, it wasn't a good thing.

A terrified chill went up the man's spine as a wrathful inferno sprung from around Impa's form, just behind the others, where they could not see.

"No- no, not at all!" He fell back and waved up the indicated hand wrapped in the blue rosary, to show to the very serious body gaurd. "It's this hand see, it's cursed! I'm just trying-"

"You mean you _did_ grope her?" InuYasha blinked in astonishment.

"Miroku!" Sango gasped in shock.

No one else saw the gleaming dagger suddenly by the shiekah woman's face.

"NO! No, no, no, I swear, I didn't touch the girl! I was just trying to explain my point to her-"

"It's alright." Zelda held other hands imploringly, and nervously. "He didn't do anything, _really_. He treated me with the utmost respect and kindness."

"Well?" Kagome said, as though to have him back her up.

"It's just as she says." He practically begged the woman. "Really, we merely spoke."

Everyone seemed to respect that statement, and sat back, relaxed. Impa still held the dagger to her face.

"Please put it away, Impa." the little Princess asked, without even looking behind her.

"I'm sorry for my guard." she said in a voice that made it sound merely customary, not sincere. She flipped her knife back into her belt and looked away. "Trust is a much riskier thing these days."

"Are you saying it's hard to trust people these days?" Miroku ventured.

Impa clipped her mouth shut.

"Earlier," the little princess called, "you asked if anything had happened that would be considered dangerous, or unusual. It was true when I said no, but lately, I've been feeling uneasy."

"In what way?"

Here, she looked about her to every set of eyes, until resting on the boy in green.

"You, what is your name?"

The boy blinked a moment, and pointed to himself questioningly. Navi came up and cast her light about his face.

"His name is Link. I am Navi, the fairy. It's a pleasure to meet you." She lowered in her version of a bow.

Zelda nodded back in answer. "Likewise. Then, you come from the forest, right?"

"Yes. We came on behalf of the Deku Tree. We were told to find you, and give you something. And a warning."

Zelda stiffened. "I see." She looked down. "Then, you have…?"

Everything fell dead silent as Link jumped to attention and fished out a small bundle from his belt. A small brown cloth bundle emerged from a sack, and the boy slowly unwrapped it. Everything fell dead silent as jade light radiated from the cloth as he carefully revealed it. When the last corner fell away, the glittering gem rose of it's own accord, and ascended from the palm of his hand. The gold frame curling about the emerald shone with equal brilliance as it rotated slowly about, stopping to hover just five inches from the palm of the boy's hand. Kagome and Sango stared with awe, InuYasha frowned lightly in confusion and uncertainty at another display of strangeness for this world, and Miroku looked at the gem grimly. Shippou and Kirara stared open-mouthed, transfixed at the shining jewel before them.

"Fool!" Impa barked. "Don't take it out so openly!"

Link snapped up and grabbed the emerald before hastily wrapping it again and shoving it back in the sack, breaking the spell and turning everyone's attention back, shrinking under Impa's disapproving stare.

"It _is_ you!" Zelda's joyous smile bit through the tension, and she leaned forward, clapping her hands together and laughing gratefully. "I knew it had to be you, the moment I saw your clothes! You see, Impa? I saw the truth! It was true."

For the first time, Impa's stern look softened into a smile. "I never doubted you for a moment, your highness."

She giggled, completely opposite to the regal dignity she had played a moment before. She leaned forward, and grasped Link's hand in her own. "Thank goodness. I have so much I need to tell you, so much I have to say, and we have to do."

"Hey."

Everyone turned to where InuYasha spoke.

"I'm happy we managed to help you an' all, but I'd like to get outta here as soon as possible. So can ya tell us exactly where we are, so we can get the heck outta here?"

"You mean you don't know where you are?" Zelda asked in confusion. She instinctively glanced to Miroku for information.

The appointed man gave an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, your highness, but I'm afraid I kept some information as well. My companions and I are indeed travelers, but this was one place we came to without our consent. Or, even our knowledge, if I were to be completely honest."

"I'm… afraid I don't understand." she said softly.

Link discretely pulled at his hands and attempted to tug his hands out, while Shippou glared jealously at the two's close proximity.

"It means we have no idea where we are, or how the heck we got here." InuYasha snapped irritably.

"Wait," Navi turned to each of the people in turn. "So when we found you on the field…?"

"We were sleeping there without our knowledge." Miroku finished.

There were a few quiet moments as this sunk in, and the little princess sat back on her feet as she considered this.

"This is troubling." she murmured.

"Got that right." InuYasha huffed and put his face on his hand, resting his elbow on his knee. "I'll go crazy if I stay in this weird place another minute."

"InuYasha!" Kagome chastised, horrified at his increasingly rude behavior.

"I'm serious, Kagome." he looked at her. "Maybe you all can't sense it, because you're just human, but nothing feels right here." He shifted his attention toward the castle town. "At first I thought the scents here was just different, but then I realized _nothing_ smelled right, not even us."

"Even our own scents?" Sango blinked in surprise.

"More distinct, more concentrated. Even my hearing's off." he admitted, and rubbed a knuckle in one of his furry ears. "It's sharper, almost. Can't get anything right."

"Actually…"

Everyone turned to Shippou as he finally spoke up.

"I've been feeling kinda funny too." he admitted, "I couldn't really tell what it was at first, though. My powers feel different."

"Your powers?" Kagome tilted her head to the side. "How do you mean, Shippou? Do you feel weaker?"

"No, it's not that." He shook his head and looked at his tiny palm. "When I used my Fox Fire, I didn't feel as connected to it. Like it wasn't really through me. I just figured I was still feeling weird from whatever brought us here, but my senses have actually been dull."

"So then," Miroku frowned as he thought of this. "InuYasha's senses have sharpened while Shippou's have dulled. Strange."

"What about you, Kilala?" Sango asked the tiny two tailed cat. "Are you feeling alright?"

The tiny kitten tilted her head down and lowered her ears.

"Even Kilala." Miroku realized. "I feel perfectly alright."

"So do I." Sango agreed.

"I don't feel any different." Kagome commented, and looked at her hands and turned them around, as though trying to physically see anything wrong.

"It seems that demons are oddly affected by whatever has occurred." Miroku figured.

"So then, you're really demons?" Zelda asked curiously.

"Indeed they are." Miroku nodded.

"Don't worry though, we're not dangerous." Shippou quickly assured. "InuYasha's a jerk at times, but he doesn't try to be mean, that's just how he is."

Said half-demon ticked and leered. "What was that?"

"You're different than what I would expect." Zelda admitted.

"Yeah," Navi zoomed up to InuYasha, glowing brightly in his face. "You look awful human to me."

He leered at her, before flicking her out of his face.

"Well, there are many different kinds of demons," Miroku explained. "Some look more human than others, like InuYasha and Shippou, for instance."

"Although, InuYasha's only a half demon." Kagome clarified.

"Only half?"

Zelda blinked in curiosity while Link leaned forward a bit, enraptured by the knowledge and finding a new curiosity about the brightly colored person. However, the moment the yellow eyes flickered to him, he remembered when the youth drew his sword against him when he got too close, and earlier when the strange eyes had looked so intently at him in the building. The boy sat back quickly and looked away. Kagome nudged InuYasha with her elbow.

"Don't _scare_ him."

"What? I didn't do anything."

"What about you, Link?" Shippou asked. "You're not human either right?"

Link turned the little child gratefully and shook his head.

"He's a Kokiri." Navi explained and came up beside the boy. "He looks just like a Hylian, except he'll stay a child."

"He'll _stay_ a child?" Sango repeated. "Such as, immortality?"

"No, Kokiri aren't immortal. They'll just look like children their whole lives." She turned a little away from the boy. "And act like it too."

"Delia and John said Kokiri don't leave the forest." Kagome said through Link's glare. "What was it that you came all the way out here for? The stone?"

Both Navi and Link looked seriously for a moment, their energy and joy visibly darkening.

"That's part of it." Navi admitted. She fluttered a moment over to the little Princess. "Your highness, there's someone after the Stones."

Everyone watched as Princess Zelda straightened, and Impa's mouth grew taut at the news.

"You know this?" the girl asked softly.

"He came through our forest sanctuary, to demand it from the Great Deku Tree. Obviously, he did not get it."

"I see." Zelda seemed even more tense, if that was possible. "Do you know who…?"

"He went by the name Ganondorf. The Deku Tree said he was a man of the desert."

"_Damn_ it."

Everyone stared at Impa as she swore and uncrossed her arms to turn away. Zelda looked down and clenched her fists. "I knew it."

"You know this man?" Miroku inquired. "You seem to believe us."

She nodded dejectedly. "I do. He is my father's newest "loyal" adviser." She glared at her hands as they held the fabric of her white dress. "But I know he is lying. I cannot trust him for an instant. I know he's the darkness that threatens us!"

"Darkness?" Sango jumped at the word.

"How do you mean?" Kagome asked worriedly.

Impa and Zelda stared at them all, and glanced at Link a moment before the girl brought both of her hands up to her mouth.

"What I'm about to say… is something that I cannot tell my father. He doesn't believe me, no matter what I say. But I'm convinced that what I see is the truth!"

"What truth?" Miroku asked lightly. "How do you mean, your highness?"

She sighed once, and took another breath.

"Lately, I've had a dream, the same every night-"

"You're telling' me we should take a dream, seriously?" InuYasha scoffed.

"The Princess's dreams are not to be taken lightly." Impa leered. "She is a Princess of Destiny, and her dreams are gateways into the future.

"Tch." he crossed his arms and leaned back to resignedly listen.

"You have all seen Death Mountain?" Zelda picked up.

"I'm assuming you mean the large mountain to the East?"

She nodded. "That very one. In my dream, It's surrounded by a ring of fire, and the entire land is covered in darkness. There is no light anywhere, and it is a wasteland." She looked up, her eyes growing unfocused while remembering. "But then, from the forest came a light, that cut through the heart of the Darkness. It was in the form of a figure, and he carried the emerald beside him, and cast the darkness away."

Everyone instantly looked to Link. Link and Navi looked back. "What?"

"But then…"

Everyone turned their attention back.

"Last night it was different. Last night, he was stopped by hands."

"Hands?" Kagome blinked.

Zelda nodded. "Hands. Hands reached from the ground and trapped him. There were so many, and he wasn't even fighting them. They just held him and he stopped. And then he…" She started to shake. "From the ground there was the smoke- no, a mist. It was a strange poisonous fog, a-"

"A miasma?" Sango breathed.

"Yes! Yes, that's it, a miasma."

Link, Navi and Impa were the only ones who did not stiffen at the use of the word.

"The miasma spread, and killed everything it touched. And then there was this laugh." She started to shake again. "This horrible laugh, when a huge spider crawled from the miasma and wreaked destruction the whole time the light was dragged into the ground."

"_Naraku_." InuYasha hissed.

She stopped and covered her face with her hands as the tears leaked. "It was horrible! Before, I always felt the sense of urgency, but hope. And last night, it was only terror and destruction. I never felt so terrified in my life."

"Don't worry, your highness." Shippou put a tiny worried hand on her thigh. "We've dealt with Naraku plenty of times. We'll take care of him."

"You recognize him from her dream?" Impa asked.

"A miasma, and a spider." InuYasha grunted. "It can _only_ be Naraku."

"Naraku is a demon that we're after." Kagome explained. "He's very tricky, and likes to toy with people for his own sick amusement."

"He is a coward that remains in hiding." Sango spoke up, surprising Impa with the warrior's tenacity hidden in the vocal cords, "he is a master of traps and always runs away. He cannot fight outright, and makes us come after him."

"What's interesting is that her highness saw him in her prophecy." Miroku stated, "It means he's involved with whatever is going on here as well."

"Do you think it has something to do with why we're here?" Shippou pointed out.

"Knowing Naraku, it very well could be. One can never tell what he's up to. What I don't understand is what he could possibly want with this land."

"He's helping Gannondorf."

Everyone looked to Zelda.

"You've given him a name. I'm sure it is him that Gannondorf has been conversing with."

"How do you mean?"

"There's… more that happened last night. When I woke up from the dream, I wanted to go to my courtyard to think, and calm myself. But I was passing a room, those used for conferences, and I heard Gannondorf speaking, and another I did not recognize. I… I tried to peak through the door because I was suspicious. All I could see was him, though I heard someone else. Then I realized the voice had to be coming from the mirror-"

"A mirror?" Sango asked breathlessly.

"Was there a little girl holding it?" Kagome asked.

Zelda shook her head. "No, he held it, away from himself, but there was a strange glow coming from it. He almost spotted me, and I had to hurry back to my room."

"What was he saying?" Kagome asked. "Did you hear what he was talking about?"

"Well, not really. I only really heard: I've brought them. Now get rid of them."

Everyone narrowed their eyes.

"Meaning us," InuYasha spoke for everyone. "Damn it, that sounds _just_ like Naraku!"

"Getting someone else to do his dirty work, like always." Sango growled, and Impa and Link noticed the unusually strong anger in her voice.

"He would have brought you all the way here, just to get rid of you?" The sheikah warrior asked.

"Yes and no." Miroku acknowledged. "He would want us to keep clear in order to let his plan unfold without our interference. But this is not his usual style. It's not as emotionally trying, and I should think he'd want to see our demise personally."

Sango mused, grasping her chin with her fingers. "I'm sure whatever the catch is, it will come later."

"Until then, we'll just have to stop Gannondorf from getting to these stones, since obviously that's what Naraku's after." InuYasha growled. "The moment I catch him, he's dead."

* * *

And, that's a wrap! Finally got around to sittin' and writing this darn thing, but here you go. Identities are finally revealed, the plan of action has been set, and the plot is finally a little clearer. Aren't you all happy? Seemed like a good place to end. Thank you all for the favorites and reviews and story alerts, especially xXxHayaiUrufuNagareboshixXx and lady sesshomaru-sama, for they reminded me I still had a little story going on in here. Next chap is already under way.


	8. That was EASY!

A bright new day for a bright new adventure. They left about mid-morning. And of course since they left mid-morning, it meant that half way across the short distance from the castle gates to the stone arched bridge over the river it was already half-past noon.

"So, Link, how come you never talk?"

The indicated boy blinked down at Shippou as they strolled along the dirt pathway. Though they were all turned away, the traveler's ears unconsciously tuned into the question, very curious for the answer. For a boy with such boundless energy, he did not seem to have much to say.

"Shippou," Kagome chastised, "It's not polite to ask personal questions like that."

"I'm just curious." Shippou defended. "I wanna know why he doesn't talk for himself." He glanced back and looked to the boy in green. "That's not too personal, right?"

Link looked at him, then pursed his lips thoughtfully, weighing the question in his mind on "personalness". His brow twitched. Then his hand fidgeted. The boy nearly looked like he was glaring off to the side as his mind delved deeper and deeper into the complicated question, and Shippou blinked as the kokiri suddenly grabbed his head and let out a strange moan of despair.

"Don't hurt yourself," the fox muttered. He huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't see what's so great about him."

"Good question." Navi jingled as she flew about. "He's been quiet ever since I traveled with him. I remember him talking a lot when he was younger, couldn't get him to shut up. But I guess he stopped after Mido and the others made fun of-"

There was silence as Link's hat swept her mid-sentence from the air. He quickly put his hat back on, and marched onward, carrying himself with admirable dignity, considering the pink coloring his cheeks.

"Guess it _is_ personal." InuYasha muttered dryly.

The ragtag, and slightly skewed group of heroes were quickly nearing the crossing bridge over Hyrule's River. They had gone quite a ways through the field, more secure with the princess's royal note to accompany them. It sat securely in Link's pouch, granting them access to Death Mountain, where Impa assured them the Goron race guarded the second spiritual stone. They had been bestowed a simple melody to identify them with the royal family, (well, it should say bestowed onto Link, since he was the only one to actually carry a musical instrument) and, everyone there hoped it would be enough to convince them to hand it over. Though they were not really that optimistic.

In the mean time though, they ambled along peacefully through the sun bathed field to the first stop of their newest journey.

"I just wonder why we haven't been attacked yet." Sango mused aloud as she glanced over the green plains and hills. "Not a single creature has attacked us since last night."

"Keh, probably 'cuz we're surrounding him now." InuYasha scoffed. "They wouldn't stand a chance with all of us."

"What do you mean, "surrounding him"?" The fairy burrowed out from under Link's hat and flew up to him. "Are you implying the stalchildren were targeting Link?"

"I'm sayin' that whatever those things were, they only attacked you, not us." He crossed his arms. "I'm guessin' they're after him, more than us."

"What could they possibly want with Link?" Navi argued.

"Maybe they were after the stone?" Kagome suggested, thinking of a certain jewel of her own realm and the effect it had on demons.

"Impossible." Navi asserted. "Stalchildren would have no interest in the stone, they're just after the living. If anything, they would have been more attracted to you guys, since you're in a group."

"Yeah, then why didn't they come after us? Or me, when I went outside?"

"Because you did not stray."

Everyone jumped with surprise at the new voice and turned to look up into the single tree looming above them. InuYasha smirked, baring his fangs threateningly.

"An' here I thought you were just some weird, big-ass bird," the agitated half demon admitted before putting his hand to the sheath, and flicking the hilt with his thumb.

"Hoo Hoo! Don't be alarmed," stated the over-sized owl, "I've come to help you traveling heroes. I can be of great service to you. For example, your question of the stalchildren. You see, the stalchildren only come out at night, and attack any travelers that should wander off the path…"

Shippou's mildly curious expression soon changed into that of moderate discomfort, as the owl continued to bestow it's knowledge. The little fox demon grimaced lightly and clutched his stomach. Kagome sensed his discomfort from beside her and glanced down.

"Shippou, what's the matter?"

"My stomach," he admitted. "It just got worse."

"You too?" Kagome glanced to the Owl, where it directed most of it's attention at Miroku. "I've been feeling bad all morning. I think we can sit down for a little bit."

"I dunno if that's gonna help though…"

He groaned a bit, before it finally became too much, and he clapped his hand over his mouth to keep the contents of his stomach in. He bounded to the river, and doubled over the rushing water, releasing the factor of upset. Kagome grimaced as well at the sight and sounds, the heaving stirring and reminding her own stomach of the sickness it had endured for the last few short hours or so. She dropped her bag and ran over to join. Sango went next, the sound of two people sick too much for even her demon slaying prowess to resist, with Link watching after her and the others worriedly. (At least until he heard a concerned Kirara meow from right beside him. Then he took the time to stoop down and feel the soft fur across the kitten's back. Kirara sighed in approval as she smiled, and arched her body into his petting hand. The boy smiled and complied with the demand.) And though Miroku had tried to steel himself, in order to keep up etiquette for the Owl's sake, he also had to excuse himself and take his place by the river. InuYasha was having a field day. Completely fine, and practically gloating, he remained in his spot by the tree as he sneered.

"Tch, _toldya_ ya shouldn't've eaten it. If it's somethin' even _I_ wouldn't eat, you should pay attention."

"You're right, InuYasha," Miroku conceded, hoarse, but regaining himself enough to placate his friend's ego.

"Yeah," Shippou grumbled, "next time we'll be sure to heed InuYasha's canine instincts."

Mentioned canine leered at the tiny form. "What was that?"

"You don't have to rub it in," Kagome cut in instead. She reached down for some clean, flowing water to sooth her burned throat. It was not a hard task, the water was practically even with the bank edge. "We got to meet the Princess, didn't we?"

Link stared a moment in confusion, pausing in his ministrations to the cat. Was it just him, or was the water under that bridge acting peculiar? He watched it a moment more, and gawked when he saw a slight hump rise just a second before a shadow stretched to the other side of the bridge, shrinking closer and coming into the other's range. The kokiri sprung up and threw himself forward in a sprint, his hand reaching out as he silently screamed in warning. InuYasha frowned and tried to follow his line of sight, silently cursing himself when he finally noticed it too and hurried to follow.

"Right," Miroku supported, not noticing the alarm, since his back was to them. "Thanks to our picnic, we got the information we needed. I think the good out weighs the bad, don't you?"

Kagome's shriek begged to differ.

"Kagome-" "Kagome!"

There was a single second of free time before the others saw the transparent, purple appendage yank her into the river water with a loud splash.

"Kagome!" InuYasha cried in alarm.

"_Link_!" Shippou exclaimed.

There was a second splash as the boy dove in immediately after her. The others shot to their feet as InuYasha already bounded to their side, drawing his massive sword, though seeing nothing to attack.

"Where'd they _go_?"

"There!" Shippou pointed. "On the other side of the bridge. It's dragging them up the river!"

The demon swore as he immediately followed, and the others hurried to catch up.

Kagome grunted as her free leg struggled to kick at the jelly body of the creature. Her arms pulled at the strange slimy tendrils trapping her, and tried to focus on holding her breath even as she struggled. From the wavering rings and rays of light filtering through the body of water the girl saw a peculiar swiveling orb sunken in the jelly mass, darting back and forth between focusing on her, and the green little body furiously stabbing with all his might at the creature which held her. Until a new tendril shot out, and wrapped around the boy from his stomach to his neck and squeezed. He visibly flinched and choked, and kicked blindly, since his arms were pinned to his body as his body coughed and panicked, loosing a little more precious air.

"Tetsaiga!!"

The great sword sliced, practically parting the waters under him into two high water walls beside him to bare the creature. It sloshed into two masses and released both of it's victims. The purple orb glared at InuYasha as the gelatinous masses shrank back and merged again far up the river bank. The demon didn't notice as he shot his hand instantly for Kagome's flailing one. The water was swishing back into place and tumbling the unwary swimmers as the rest of the current caught up to set itself back in motion, so it was with great relief she reached out for the bright red of his garb, and complied when he pulled her to safety. She coughed out the water that had gotten into her mouth and gratefully breathed in fresh air.

"Kagome, are you alright?" InuYasha asked in a gruff sort of anxiety.

Shippou jumped up beside them. "Yeah, we were really worried, are you all right?"

"I'm alright, really." she assured. "What about Link, he was hurt, is he okay?"

Shippou pouted, just barely. "Sango an' Miroku're getting him. What was that thing?"

The three looked down the river bank, but it remained clear. InuYasha cursed at himself for letting it get away, knowing that whatever it was would have moved too fast and well for him to catch up now.

"Dunno. But it looks like this world really is just as dangerous as ours."

His throat felt like it was burning. Link pushed his limbs as control flowed back into them, and he swam to reach the top of the water. The moment he did, he coughed and sputtered painfully, holding at the abused throat. The boy hit the stone wall of the castle by surprise, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Link, are you okay?" Navi fluttered in front of him, as his body heaved with more desperate gasps.

"Link, grab on."

The sopping pair looked in front to see the metallic end of a staff, and followed the line of the rod to see Miroku's benevolent features. Link reached out gratefully onto the aid, and held on as the man pulled him to the edge. His body still struggled to expel the water, and he was grateful when he felt a pair of strong arms help pull him out of the water. He forced himself to open his eyes. The temporary savior's deep chocolate brown eyes sparkled worriedly at him from under their purple décor. The sun's rays glinted off the soft and voluminous mahogany hair and cast her face in cheery and ample light. Even with her features pinched in worry, she was a vision to behold, and Link was struck dumb for a moment. Until the woman impatiently shook his shoulders.

"Link, are you all right?" Sango demanded. "_Say_ something."

His body cringed at the burning the water gave his lungs, but he managed to smile up in greeting. The boy coughed one last time, before nodding quickly to assure her.

"What were you thinking, diving in so recklessly like that?" she scolded, tightening her hold on his shoulders as her fear gave way to anger. "You could have seriously been hurt!"

He winced at the harsh words effectively bruising his ego, and looked down, properly shamed.

"Sango," Miroku held up a placating hand and put it on her shoulder, "It was a very impromptu rescue, and he was trying to look out for Kagome's sake. Perhaps being so hard on him isn't the best course of action."

Sango turned and gave him a disapproving leer. "We're a team, and he needs to learn to coordinate with the rest of us, otherwise he could be seriously hurt. The sooner he realizes that, the better. He's just a child, Miroku, he can't make such dangerous risks."

Link sank even lower at the description and ferocity and bowed his head while his fingers idly picked at the grass.

"Sango, I understand, but…" but the man stopped himself, unable to complete the statement.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him a moment, "But?"

He sighed, and his hand on her shoulder ran down her back, hiding it from view. "But he's not a child, that is merely his appearance due to his race. I'm sure he's a capable fighter on his own, he merely lacks experience away from his forest home. Not to mention we did just band together recently. I'm sure we'll all learn to work together as we learn more about each other and our abilities."

Now here, Link was completely confused, because as the monk lay his pearls of wisdom for them, Sango's serious expression snapped into one of rigid shock, before a shudder seemed to go through her body. He tilted his head curiously as Navi glowed suspiciously.

"In the mean time, we _should_ be congratulating-"

The kokiri and his fairy guardian jumped at the slap that echoed from the unexpected and brutal contact. They looked up almost fearfully at the seething Sango as she shot to her feet.

"Can't you be serious for one _minute_?" she screamed as she whirled and stomped off.

The boy blinked after her, and looked in confusion at the man smiling in a self satisfied way, despite the flashing red hand print on his face. Link looked back at the stomping woman heading to pick up her enormous weapon, and sighed softly. The monk heard his quiet complaint and turned his attention to the kokiri, smiling encouragingly. He adjusted his position from a kneel to a cross-legged position, though Link did not look up until the man spoke. When he did, it was with mild befuddlement. The man's face was completely smooth and flawless. Just where had that handprint gone? It was there just a second ago…

"Her words may seem harsh, but she's only trying to look out for you. She's worried."

"She has a funny way of showing it." Navi quipped, and Link frowned at her.

Miroku's smile never wavered. "She's harsh, but caring. I'm sure she's as impressed with your courage as I am. What you did was very brave." And he looked slyly just off to the side. "I'm sure I'm not the only one to think so."

Confused at his tone, the boy and fairy turned to follow his line of sight.

"Link!"

Kagome's overjoyed cry was the only warning Link had before being enveloped in a tackling hug as she fell to her knees beside him. He yelped once before the girl cuddled him to her bosom.

"Oh Link, thank goodness you're all right! I was so worried!"

The boy grunted, then choked at the attention of the girl as she kept him in her bone crushing vice. One hand went up and his wrist flailed in a sort of emergency signal of help. Shippou crossed his arms, not moving at the silent plea of assistance as he scowled at the attention given to him.

"Jeez, go ahead an' kill the kid again." InuYasha muttered dryly.

Kagome gasped and pulled him back. "I'm sorry, are you all right?"

He cleared his throat, which triggered another cough, and nodded.

She sighed in relief. "Thank goodness." She smiled and sat back. "Thank you, for coming in after me. I felt a little safer, knowing that you were there trying to help me. That was very brave of you."

A small sheepish smile crept up on his face with the embarrassed pink. He gave a little nervous snicker as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Gosh, he wasn't _that_ great…

InuYasha deadpanned, before he looked away in a huff. "Right, like I just stood on the sidelines."

Miroku thought about the comment a moment before he looked to him with a bit of amusement. "Why, InuYasha, you're not _jealous_, are you?"

The eyes flicked to the monk with a warning leer, before turning away and walking off. "As if."

Shippou snickered. "He doesn't do a good a job of hiding it."

Miroku changed the focus of his sly smirk. "He's not the only one."

The kitsune frowned defensively at him. "Just what does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing."

Navi sighed in exasperation. These people were confusing and would drive her crazy. "I just want to know what that thing was. It wasn't like the other things I've seen."

"Whoohoo! I cannot say," came the voice of the owl that had not left. "That creature was not a part of the natural order of things."

The others perked up at that.

"Natural order?" InuYasha clarified.

"But, you all seem to be able to take care of yourselves," the Owl amended, "so I shall leave you for now. I have already given much of my needed wisdom to you, Monk. Use it well, and teach the young boy what I have taught you."

"Indeed, I will." Miroku stood from his kneel. "I thank you for your help, Keapora Geabora."

"Hoo! Until we meet again, young travelers."

"Hey wait!" InuYasha called after, "What were you saying before? Come back when people are talking to you!

But the owl spread it's giant wings, and flapped once, twice, three times before it ascended completely and took off into the vast blue.

"There's something weird about that owl." Shippou announced as he watched the bird fly into the distance.

"Regardless, he has given me some invaluable information. We would do wise to heed his advice. For instance: the reason the stalchildren attacked Link while leaving us alone, was because he had unwittingly wandered off the path."

InuYasha raised a single eyebrow in skepticism. "He "wandered off the path," huh? Just what kinda reason is that?"

"Well, reason enough. If you stray, apparently they will attack, though I can't say exactly why. Also, the time in this world follows a different set of rules. The sun will continue to move at an unusual pace until we enter a town. It's why we've been able to attain a full night's rest, even with the quick time."

The demon scratched his head. "This whole place is strange. Let's just get to this Death Mountain place, get the stone and get out."

"It's about time." Navi complained and came by Link's shoulder as he stood. "At this rate, Hyrule will _never_ get rescued in time."

The man's uproarious howl just would not let up. Link stared dubiously from the soldier to the paper decree in his hand, and looked to Navi in question.

"No, no, wait," he held up a placating hand, "I'm sorry, I just…" he snorted and fell into another cycle.

Kagome sweat a little nervously, and gingerly scratched her cheek with her index finger. "Well, I guess it does seem a little hard to believe."

Shippou pouted. "That doesn't mean he has to laugh at us."

"Okay, okay, I'm alright now," the man assured. "I'll just let you…" he doubled over and burst into another round.

Sango stared dryly. "Well, at least now we have a better idea of what the locals think about all this."

Miroku merely gave a quiet sigh, and Kirara meowed..

This time the man waved desperately. "I swear, I'll get it, I just… just…"

"Don't even think about laughing again!" InuYasha snapped. "Just open the damn gate already, an' let us through!"

"Right, right," the man wheezed. "I've got it now."

He tapped the butt of his spear onto a spot on the ground, a chink echoed on the dirt and rock behind him. The gate jumped, then rattled as it dragged along the dirt to the opposite wall.

"There ya go." The soldier took one great breath, and released it in a tired sigh. "Haven't laughed that long in a while. Don't know what our Princess is playing, but far be it for me to ruin her plans."

"Keh, finally."

InuYasha's impatient air followed him as he marched through first. Link quickly stepped out of the way to avoid any possible wrath, which gave Kagome room to follow in next. As Sango and Miroku came through, the soldier took the chance to actually look at the kokiri strolling up behind them, and pursed his lips.

"Hey kid, it might not be my business, but if I were you I'd get a better shield than that. There's a good shop down in Castle Market. You put in a word from me, and you might even get a discount."

Navi zipped and fluttered up to the soldier. "Thanks for the concern, but we'll be fine. _This_ shield was made from the bark of the Great Deku tree himself. Nothing's sturdier."

The man shrugged, though had no idea what "great deku tree" was supposed to mean. Who would bother to name a tree? "Well, alright then, don't say I didn't warn ya."

Link nodded his thanks, and jogged to catch up. The sun was near to setting, and painted the rugged brown cracks and crevices in an orange tinted light. Fuzzy, elongated black shadows bounced an distorted on the walls and on the closed pathway as the others argued up ahead, and the voices quickly drowned the crunch of gravel under the boy's feet as he jogged closer.

"…As fast as you," Kagome was complaining. "Slow down."

"We got a long way to go to get up to the top," InuYasha barked. "If we slow down too much we won't even reach them by day break, an' we're definitely not stopping for this world's nightfall. Sun would probably come up before we even finished setting up camp."

"That may be," Miroku said carefully, "but this _is_ going to be an uphill climb. We need to pace ourselves so we don't wear out immediately."

Link fell into step beside Sango, and almost immediately saw the problem. He was already a little too winded, and his legs a little too tired than they should have been. Even just the beginning of the path meant an incline. Would it get worse the higher they climbed?

"Not to mention extra time will give us the chance to think over how we'll approach them," Sango added.

"Right," the monk looked out seriously. "We know next to nothing about this race of people, let alone how they might view us. We'll have to figure out how to convince them to part with something as important as the Spiritual Stone. They might be much like the guard and not take her highness's degree seriously."

The demon ahead scoffed. "I say it'd be easier to just sneak into wherever they're hiding the thing an' split."

"InuYasha!" Kagome chided.

He scowled as they came up around a bend in the rock.

"I'm just saying it'd be better than getting stuck with a stupid argument that could last for-!"

He stopped instantly. One by one, like a silent ripple the others sensed his unease and stopped as well, and began discreetly searching the passage for the sign of the threat. There were a few moments of thick silence as they silently moved into an unspoken formation. Miroku eased beside his companion and in front of Kagome and Shippou with his staff held lightly across his body, creating an interesting contrast of hot and cold colors between the two. Sango slid around behind the girl and faced the cliff wall behind them, looking skyward and tensing her body for whatever attack she had planned as she dropped her green bundle, though not before lifting out the short sword inside. Kirara remained on her shoulder, growling as she bristled. Link inched closer behind Kagome and Shippou, and followed the wayward direction Sango was looking, as opposed to the direction that a majority of the others were facing. A low snarl suddenly broke the air, and the half-demon tightened his hold on the scabbard of his sword as Sango inched hers out.

"InuYasha, what do you sense?" Miroku asked lowly.

"Naraku," came the growl. "His stench is pouring through here."

A discordant strain followed his statement as the others tensed. The ringing theme seemed to stalk and surround the troupe as an eerie wind whistled through the dissonant notes. It made Navi and Link jump when a coyote's howl erupted just as the tune ended, and darkness fell upon them.

"Please tell me you heard that too." The fairy muttered to her charge.

He nodded confusedly, but no one else seemed to have noticed the haunting song.

Four red exoskeleton quadruped creatures were staggered along the incline laid out around the corner ahead of them. A single red eye blinked out at the group from each strange half spider. Link took one look at Navi in question, and she quickly zipped forward to inspect them as he drew his sword. The others watched as the ball of light hovered around the creature a moment before jingling and flying back.

"Tektites!" Navi squeaked. "Keep an eye on their jumping with L-targeting and attack!"

"L-targeting?" Kagome looked between them, "What's that?"

"Who cares?" InuYasha interrupted. "We're surrounded."

Navi was quiet a moment. "Seriously?"

"If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself."

Kagome, Shippou, and Link and Navi glanced around to do just that. For a second they didn't see anything beside rock face and ledges. It wasn't until a tiny stream of sand and gravel sprinkled down the back of his cap that Link thought to follow Sango's line of sight, and stiffened at the sight of red shells and yellow legs peering out over the ledges. He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips as he tightened his hold on the Kokiri sword. Shippou and Kagome sensed his example and followed it, only looking in more directions and realizing just how accurate their hanyou friend's original observation was. Navi jingled nervously, and steamed irately.

"Wonderful. Way to warn us sooner, puppy-boy. You're supposed to be the one with the super senses."

The canine half demon sent a glare over his shoulder. "Shove it, firefly, they weren't moving the whole time. I didn't realize they were there until I actually started looking for them." he growled, and flexed his clawed fingers, cracking them in turn. "Just keep on your toes and your eyes peeled. If Naraku's involved with this, it can't be good."

The first hint of things to come was when one of the tektites resting on a ledge jumped almost straight up and over the edge. It plummeted straight for the middle of the closely knit group, and if it wasn't for Sango's quick warning, the others would not have split apart in time to avoid it landing on them. As it landed, it scuttled on it's legs to turn about and face Link, while several other tektites above them quickly followed suit, each coming from a side all around them.

Yellow flame lit up a single corner of the pathway, and InuYasha leaped with his awakened sword to the high reaches to meet them, almost instantly creating a display for three blots of blue fire with his attacks. Miroku disposed of the two that landed closer to him and Kagome, providing cover for the girl in uniform as she drew back an arrow on her bow. She aimed for the four that were further down the path. They had been alerted to the battle and were jumping in a dangerous game of leap frog to hurry and join their fellow attackers.

"Hit the mark," Kagome murmured, and let the arrow fly.

Sparkling lavender light sailed down the middle of the pathway, disintegrating the four creatures coming to attack, plus two more that had dropped down from above in the hope to also join.

On the other end of the scuffle one landed nearer to Sango, and she leapt forward and swung her short sword. It caught the creature's eye, but it was only stunned a minute before it started skittering blindly. The demon slayer efficiently followed up with downward stab that sent her blade straight through the heart of the arachnid. The blue fire highlighted her a moment before instantly whirling to dice at a second one that had nearly fallen straight onto her. Kirara growled, but looked about in cautious and desperate analyzing, because she was handicapped by the same limitation that prevented her partner from drawing the giant boomerang on her back. There was not any room for her to fight in this relatively narrow path. All she could do was bite at the leg of a creature that came too near for it's own good. A childish cry of pain and hauntingly familiar beeping alerted Sango to glance back, and she snapped around in surprise.

"Link!" She looked to her companion. "Kilala, go for the tektites above!"

The kitten meowed once before she growled lowly, and blossomed into fire. The whirlwind grew until it nearly took up the whole pathway. When the orange and red died down, the enormous saber-toothed demon jumped skywards and dashed for the creatures hiding and jumping from the ledges above. Sango was quick to follow to help the quickly losing child on the floor. One by one the other fighters turned to see what had caused the demon slayer such distress. Miroku hurried to join, and a few moments later Kagome cried out in alarm and notched an arrow. She let it fire at a farther tektite in mid jump and prepared another. Shippou panicked from the sidelines at seeing the boy's predicament. How had such a situation deteriorated in just a few moments?

It was a combination of unfortunate planning, inexperience, and sabotage. The relatively weak but numerous tektites had effectively separated the kokiri from the rest of the group, making it much easier to pick him apart.

"Link the nuts," his fairy had called from next to the opponent. "Use the nuts to stun it!"

The boy was obviously exhausted. Many shallow scratches dotted his arms and several even caught his jaw, and faint smudges of dust and gravel dirtied his clothes and hair. Link held his stance a moment longer, before releasing his pent up energy in a spin, taking out three tektites that had surrounded him. He whipped out his only long-range weapon and Navi practically teleported to the new targets to give him a focus. He fired two seeds from his slingshot at the revolving arrow targets in front of the two tektites approaching to hold them off from afar before stashing it and drawing out a deku nut. The fairy quickly appeared by the main concern again, lighting the unusual tektite giving Link the most grief. The red body Navi remained by to mark scurried along the wall in it's peculiar way until it touched the floor and dashed for him. He chucked the nut with all his might at the advancer, not paying attention when a new tektite ran into him, eliciting a grunt. The arachnid sprinting for him simply closed it's two yellow eyes a moment before reopening them and going into a tackle. Link managed to draw his sword and bring up his shield in time, but the flying tackle still knocked him off balance. He yelped in surprise before it changed into a cry of pain. The tektite from before had rammed into his side again when he wasn't paying attention, and he fell to the floor from the two fronts. Navi jingled nervously as his heart started to give that alarm of danger.

"This isn't working!" she wailed, "What the hell is that thing?!"

Link would have sworn he heard his name called out as well, but couldn't answer because he had to roll out of the way for that other forgotten normal tektite jumping for him. He panted heavily while pushing himself up, but managed to dive forward and kill the normal tektite before it went for another jump, ignore the cool blue flame, and turn to quickly try to assault the other, internally whimpering as he saw _three_ more dropping from above. Was there no end to these? He tried to swing at one during a jump in panic, and was rewarded with another scratch as it knocked into him. A black shadow laced with embers slipped through the dark sky above him, and the boy glanced up a moment, before lunging forward and stabbing the landed tektite. The shape made him confused and scared. What else was coming? All these tektites just kept piling in- speak of the devil, here was two more to join the party- how would he manage to fight off anything else? He pulled back his sword arm, and held up his weapon and shield firmly in front to try another assault, when Navi jingled in warning and Link snapped straight in shock. The oddly behaved tektite was currently scuttling away from him. A dark tentacle swayed oddly from the seam in the carapace, securely holding onto a simple little brown bag.

"The stone!"

It must have gotten it from him when he was distracted from the other attackers. The momentary pause of action was just enough time for a surprise attack from behind the boy's back. He turned just in time to see the creature caught by an arrow and sailing away from him. Confusion laced him for only a second before turning his immediate attention back to the monsters. He and Navi realized with alarm that they were swarming now into a tighter circle. Link attempted to run past them by slicing one in his charge, and ignoring it for the sake of speed to catch up. The boy spotted the dark form of one of the other fighters coming to meet him, but he ignored the form as well as it drew closer. He ran as fast as he could go until it started going up a wall, and he sheathed his sword and drew his slingshot to try to bring it down. Several seeds shot from the sling, but missed the quick creature. Link only had several attempts however, before a single tektite jumped down directly in front of him, blocking his path. A sound alerted him to another danger and he turned in time to see the second. He managed to draw his sword as the third came to join, and collapsed to the floor with a cry as the fourth jumped up to fell him.

The beeping of his dying heart felt like a siren in his ears. Navi shrieked in panic and tried to call to him to get up, slash more, do anything, but all he could focus on was slicing and kicking at the arachnids with as much ferocity as his tiny and panicked body would allow, shoving away the sharp legs and pincer mouths as best he could, lost in a world of red eyes and shells as bite after bite pinched into his flesh. He begged Farore to lend him the strength to live, even as his vision started to waver and his strength started to give.

"Link, hold on!"

An effective swing of the short sword was enough to kill two tektites simultaneously, and the demon slayer had the boy's body cleared in three attacks. She whirled beside him and kept the sword up defensively as she kept her eyes peeled for other attackers, even as she noticed Miroku quickly swooping in to take out the approaching creatures, and Kirara making quick work of the bodies above.

"Link, are you alright?" she said down to him.

A wave of sheer relief and joy overwhelmed him at seeing her fiercely protective form. She had never looked more beautiful than she did at this moment. A desperate hand grabbed at the fabric of her green skirt-like apparel, and the boy tried to speak, but seemed to have trouble talking in his state, and could not be heard over the obnoxious beeping. Navi quickly zoomed to pick up the slack.

"The stone, that- that _thing_ has the stone!"

Sango looked up to where Navi faced, and spotted the strange creature scuttling in question. She cast her searching gaze elsewhere to call for help. "InuYasha!"

"On it."

Sango turned her attention back, keeping herself ready in case another pesky tektite slipped through, though Kagone's arrows, Miroku's skill and Kilala's ferocity seemed to be doing a well enough job to eliminate the pests. Navi watched Link closely, checking all his injuries and hovering about to be sure of his well being, even as he rolled and pushed himself to stand. The kokiri's eyes glued to the scarlet and silver mass leaping up the rock face with a rough sort of grace that came from practiced ease unlike anything the boy had witnessed. The massive sword slid with envious ease under the deceptively young half-demon's hands and in not a moment's time the blade cleaved through the false body. Hard red and yellow shell fell away, revealing a dark, writhing mass of tentacle appendages, before that too was destroyed. The body disintegrated into ashy particles in the night breeze, and the brown sack dropped from its release. Down, down it fell through the air until the bounding kitsune leapt and successfully caught the parcel. The miniature demon landed easily, and held the bag up triumphantly. Much to Kagome's confusion, Miroku's amusement, Sango's surprise, and InuYasha's annoyance, a brief round of victory music echoed down the mountain path as the bag floated above his head in a revolution. Navi took up a post beside him.

"You got the Kokiri's emerald back! You're practically beaming with joy! Watch out, and keep a better eye on it next time!"

Shippou was frozen with his "beaming" expression a moment longer before regaining himself and looking down at the sack in confusion.

"What was that all about?"

InuYasha's dark eye brow twitched.

"That does it," he muttered, and the sword flashed brilliant yellow as he sheathed it back into it's scabbard, "I'm not touchin' _anything_ in this weird place."

Navi fluttered, almost bashfully. "Sorry, force of habit. Link!" She hurried and zoomed back to her charge, "are you okay?"

Shippou hurried behind to follow, tilted back slightly on his hind feet to accommodate the foreign weight. He hopped to the boy's side, and held out the sack.

"Yeah, you're not hurt too bad, right?"

The sounds of the battle were winding down behind them, and felt far and distant. It left a deceptively safe feeling surrounding him. Link shook his head and accepted the package, very much relieved to have it back. He secured it back on his belt, tying it in an extra knot for good measure.

"Good." The fox nodded to himself in affirmation and crossed his arms as he puffed out his chest. "You're lucky we were here. Who knows _what_ would have happened if we weren't around to help."

"An' just what were _you_ doin' out there, Shippou?" The dog scoffed. "I was the one who actually got the damn thing."

Link had his hands behind him and tapped his fists together nervously. They were both right, unfortunately.

"Don't strain yourself too much," Sango warned. The woman put what she hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you really all right?"

Her warm eyes peered at him through the moonlight from under the alluring eye paint. The elegant white light of the moon shone off of her silky hair and brought her smooth skin and even the fabric of her unusual clothes into a soft and breath taking glow. In response, his body instinctively straightened more, all signs of weariness and fatigue hidden. He looked straight into the woman's dark eyes, and nodded eagerly. Sango blinked in surprise at his unflinching assertion. It was quite convincing, even with his obvious wounds. InuYasha scoffed as he stepped up beside him.

"As if. If you were, you wouldn't've been flailing on the ground helplessly a few minutes ago."

Link's response was a flaring red on his cheeks as he looked away, though Navi was less than pleased. His eyes flickered back to Sango's hand as it moved away from his shoulder.

"Flailing!? He'd been fighting off those stupid things since this whole thing started! And just where do you go off criticizing him anyway, dog-breath? Where were you during most of the fight?"

"Being more of a help than a certain stupid glowing gnat!"

"You-!"

"Now, now," Miroku returned to them in the nick of time, and held up placating hands as Kagome joined them from the opposite way, "no need for comrades to fight each other. Thankfully they've stopped after assault. InuYasha, was that what you sensed before?"

As they spoke, the momentary wait was too much for the kokiri, and he buckled forward, and propped himself up in his knees as he heaved in fatigue. Shippou looked up a bit worriedly as a two-tailed kitten plucked up to his feet. Shrunken back down to her normal form after her part of battle, Kilala nuzzled his leg, and meowed, drawing the attention of Sango beside her.

"Yeah," the half-demon's tone was more grave. "That was definitely the source of Naraku's scent. Probably a broken piece of him or something."

Kagome's grip tightened around her bow. "Then that means Naraku really is trying to help Gannondorf."

"For whatever reason," Miroku agreed. "Let's go back to the village and discuss it while we rest up a bit; this unusual ambush does not sit well with me. It was far too easy for the likes of Naraku."-Link and Navi flinched at the description.- "And I'm sure most of us are a little fatigued from the fight." He turned to the kokiri hunched over on himself. "Are you all right?"

Link nodded in assurance, though his wide eyes betrayed he was less than grateful for the concern. The boy's cheeks burned with embarrassment, (or flushed in exhaustion) as he doubled over and panted. Scratches and newly beginning bruises all over his arms and face stung in the night air as a cruel reminder of his weakness. Everyone turned in succession to head back to the village while he begrudgingly straightened and followed in the middle, the beeping of his heart banging in his long ears with a vengeance. He clamped his lips together, and furrowed his brow.

"Don't worry," his fairy companion assured, "it's been a rough day anyway. We'll do better tomorrow, you'll see. We just have to remember what we're here for and get that stone."

Right, the stone, they had to get it. Princess Zelda was counting on them. The Great Deku Tree was counting on _him_. Who said he had to do what these people said anyway? They weren't the boss of him.

Kagome stopped at sensing a change and turned in surprise. "Link?"

The others also turned to follow her eyes as the sound of crunching footsteps alerted them to a running body. The boy had turned promptly around, and ran back up the inclined pathway, heading up the trail for Death Mountain once again.

"Link, come back!" Kagome called after him. "We'll try again in the morning!"

"What's he think he's doing?" InuYasha half-snorted in derision, and Kagome looked after the boy in concern. "He's gonna get himself killed. Who does he think he's foolin', acting all tough like that?"

"Kind of reminds me of someone else we know," Sango added sardonically.

"Keh," was the wise and eloquent retort before he took a running start and jumped.

The determinedly running kokiri looked up when he noticed a strange shadow flicker over him a moment. The boy quickly leaned back to dig the heels of his boots into the dirt. The cushioning mound of dirt managed to push him into a stop at the cost of a grainy cloud itching his eyes, but it managed to keep him from running into the large shadowed form landing in front of him.

Ever since the kokiri had left the sanctuary of his forest, he had always marveled at how big the grown-ups were compared to him and his forest companions. Of course, next to the Great Deku Tree and the enormous Queen Gohma, the size of the adult Hylians had been more of a curiosity than a threat. It was not until he watched as the dark mound grew and he was suddenly dwarfed in the shadow of a very tall and very imposing InuYasha blocking his path that he realized just how very, _very_ small he was. As it was, he could barely even see around the wide and stiff outline of his strange red outfit. The demon's sharp yellow-gold eyes glinted supernaturally in the night, and his silver hair gave off a ghostly light in the reflections of the moon. His straight posture and crossed arms did not help matters and nearly managed to send a chill of fear down his spine.

"Hey kid, don't cause us any more grief. Turn back around and rest up before pulling any more crazy stunts."

Link gulped once and glanced back at the others waiting far back. His hands clenched into fists at his hips, and he turned back around to shake his head. InuYasha merely wrinkled his nose in response, but it pulled at his lip, briefly showing a fang and giving Link the impression of the threat.

"Look, quit tryin' to show off, we can all hear that little alarm going off. You're a wreck. You could barely fight off one of those stupid tektite things if they popped out and _crawled_ to you. That precious _stone_ of yours is a waving red flag, and could probably call another horde of weird monsters to try to steal it again."

Link's hand flew protectively over the sack at the mere thought. His lips pursed and he leered up defiantly before taking a step to the side. InuYasha followed. Link stepped back, and tried to run to the other side. The taller and stronger male grabbed the back of his tunic just before he ran through, forcibly dragged him back to the front, and lifted him easily to eye level.

"Oi, watch it!" He growled in agitation. "You gonna be nice and come quietly, or are we doing this the hard way?"

"Hey! Unhand him, dog-boy!"

Navi shrieked as she flew up, and bobbed aggressively around his face. It did no more than let blue-white light bounce around and highlight the man's face in peculiar shadows. Scrunching his face in a scowl, InuYasha struck back with a flick, sending the little fairy flying. The captured boy kicked and flailed in his instinctive goal to reach the ground, before freezing at the half demon's glare. Blue struck yellow, fear struck annoyance, little struck big, kokiri struck half-demon, and Link sagged in submission. InuYasha sniffed and dropped him. The boy kicked up a puff of dust and gravel as he landed and begrudgingly turned back around. The night's darkness covered his face from the others, but he could feel his cheeks and ears turn scarlet. Not once did he look up at anyone as he passed, but he could still sense their eyes and hear their unvoiced thoughts at his present state. He was hating his heart so much right now.


	9. If at first you don't succeed

"Which is why he should hand it over in the _first_ place."

"But that's not fair to him."

"I ain't talking about what's fair, I'm talking about what won't get him _killed_."

The kokiri scowled at the direction of the conversation, and his neutral fairy mirrored the expression. The place they ended up staying at was an unexpected location. They had been told before that Impa had originally been from Kakariko, but not that her house worked as a makeshift Inn for travelers and others that might need it. That would have been nice to know before Miroku's "dark plague over your house" routine had been slapped back three times. As it was, two other guests besides the "traveling heroes" settled in, but seemed to be wide awake as well, so did not mind the heated debate going on in the back of the first floor. At least the mismatched group found two hearts to tide Link over until morning. Now there were only minor aches and injuries spotted over his body. Unfortunately, that did not help his mood, given the situation.

"If he's up against Naraku, it sure ain't gonna be a picnic for him." InuYasha scoffed. "Heck, even Shippou would be a better choice to carry it; at least _he_ knows what we're up against."

Said child frowned. "And just what's _that_ supposed to mean, InuYasha?"

"It means even your stupid little tricks would stand up better than his inexperience."

Even though the condescending demon terrified him deep down, Link still managed a glare. Navi flashed angrily.

"You can't just take it away from him," Kagome argued, "He still has the right to carry it. Right, Sango?"

All eyes turned expectantly to the demon slayer, but the support the young girl had hoped for was no where on her face.

"Actually, I find myself agreeing with InuYasha on this one." She admitted. "Not only are we up against Naraku, but he's now working with a new foe we don't understand. In this world, the stone is probably as important as the jewel shards. I'd feel better if you were the one carrying it, Kagome."

"Exactly," InuYasha smirked in satisfaction, not noticing Kagome stiffen nervously. "Actually, it makes sense since you're already carrying the jewel shard. Why not protect both at the same time, right…?" he trailed off as he noticed her nervous posture, and looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Now all the eyes looked curiously to the sweating girl. "Uh… about the jewel shard…"

"What is it Kagome?" Shippou wondered. "Is something wrong?"

"Well… I don't think they really work in this world." she concluded, laughing slightly from nerves.

"_What_?" came the source of her nerves. "What do you mean "don't really work"?"

"What do you mean, Kagome?" Sango asked in worry.

Miroku looked seriously to her. "Has something happened to the jewel-shard?"

"You might say that," she admitted, and reached for the cord around her neck, "Now don't freak out or anything, but…"

As soon as the little glass bottle came from under her blouse, Link and Navi could not figure out what was wrong. It was just a clear little piece of glass or quartz in the itty-bitty container. This thing was supposed to be as important as the stone?

"It's clear!" Shippou exclaimed.

"It looks like a regular little crystal." Sango mused.

"How long has it _been_ like this?" InuYasha demanded.

"Um… I didn't really realize it until last night, but…" she looked shiftily away from him. "Probably since we got here."

"And you didn't _tell_ us?" he demanded.

"Well, there was a lot going on at the time," she defended.

He growled in frustration as he sat back. "Damn it all. If the jewel shards don't work here, then what's the point of protecting 'em?"

"You shouldn't be all that surprised, InuYasha," Miroku pointed out, "considering all the other slight changes we've been noticing. It only makes sense that Midoriko's and the demon's souls would have no power here." -Link and Navi stared at each other. There were _souls_ involved in this?- "At the moment, we should focus on what does work here. Namely, the Kokiri's Emerald."

Link's hands twitched. Two deku nuts, and at least thirty seeds left. Would they be enough to hold them at bay if he had to make a run for it? Hopefully. There was no way he was handing it over without a fight. The little fairy in brown glowed and jumped up to flutter almost protectively in front of him.

"I don't care what any of you say, he's not handing it over!" the fairy argued hotly. "The task was bestowed to him, and _he'll_ be the one to carry it out."

"Now wait just a minute," Miroku raised one hand to gesture a halt to her anger, "I'm not suggesting he give it to anyone. If anything, we're the ones at fault here."

"But we're just trying to help," Shippou argued.

"Yes, but we're forgetting one important fact. The kokiri don't mature as regular humans. They have youth beyond that of even a demon's."

"That's right," Sango's eyes widened in realization. "They remain as children in their appearance. They don't age."

"But they also don't leave the forest," Kagome remembered, "They don't go outside."

"Precisely." Miroku nodded. "He may actually be much older than any of us, for all we know." He did not notice Link glancing curiously at Navi, and her hushing him softly in turn. "But if this is the first time he's traveled out into the land, it's hardly surprising that he'd have trouble. After all, he does have a sword and a shield." And his eyes shiftily slid to his attentive friend. "Not to mention he managed to outsmart InuYasha at one point."

Pink flared across fearsome half-demon's cheeks at a couple of traitorous snickers snuck out at his expense. An embarrassed scowl was his automatic response.

"I'm not about to go an' attack a little kid just for fun." he defended.

"Oh yeah?" Shippou challenged. "How come you always pick on me, then?"

"Keh, you're hardly a little kid. You jus' _look_ like a little brat. At least the kid's braver than _you_ are."

"Hey! Is that a challenge?" He jumped up, pin wheeling his arms in an attempt to strike, but InuYasha's hand was a simple enough barrier to keep him at bay. "C'mon, put 'em up, I'll show you!"

"My point exactly," Miroku smiled, successfully breaking another argument. "Given time, I'm sure he'll become quite proficient in defending the stone. And the Goron's Ruby and Zora's Sapphire, once we acquire them."

"That's right!" Navi popped up from Link's shoulder with a hint of pride. "At least _one_ of you sees reason. He managed to even slay Queen _Gohma_ all by himself, and that's no easy feat. This boy is the best swordsman among the Kokiri, and given time, he'll be the best in Hyrule. He's still learning, but I _know_ he'll be great someday."

Link flushed from the praise, embarrassed and not used to it, while several other eyes stared at the little fairy. Sango looked in surprise at the tiny woman's conviction.

"You seem to have quite the confidence in him."

"If the Great Deku Tree believed in him, then so do I!"

"Keh, believe in him all you want," InuYasha scoffed. "Just don't say I didn't warn ya when worst comes to worst."

Kagome tapped her chin and looked up in thought. "Who _is_ Queen Gohma anyway?"

""Who", you ask?" Navi brought herself up to her impressive height of two full inches. "Why, only the fiercest arachnids in all of Hyrule! She was an evil monster, sent as a curse to the gaurdian, the Great Deku Tree. Those tektites were nothing in comparison! Gohma was big- enormous- as big as this room!" She tried to demonstrate by spreading her hands, though one: they were not visible, and two: they could not go that wide in the first place. "But Link took her down; and even her hatchlings like they were _nothing_."

Link could not help but grin at the memory. Bruised, scraped, fatigued, but triumphant. That feeling of awe and accomplishment and pride was probably one of the greatest moments of his short life. He nodded in agreement as he looked out to everyone expectantly.

"Huh." Sango blinked. "That would be impressive if it were true."

Shippou shrugged, and leaned back, crossing his hands behind his head. "We've battled demons that big plenty of times without even breaking a sweat."

Link's eyes went big as his apprehension rose. That easily? Were they really that strong?

"Just _who_ was battling those demons, Shippou?" InuYasha asked.

"Big as the room, huh?" Kagome tried to imagine it, but nothing she had seen of him to so far made her think he was capable of such a feat. Maybe it was a bit of a tall-tale?

Miroku seemed to think the same thing, but humored him. "That is quite impressive. Perhaps you'll be able to hold your own after all."

"He will." Navi assured. "You'll see."

The lights went out, everyone settled, but one certain troubled soul remained awake. Huddled off to the corner as the others lay, blue eyes stared solemnly at his boots as his mind tried to grapple with the situation. How could he prove himself? There had to be a way to go up against this Naraku person, but could he? What if he was even stronger than Gohma?

_**Link, thou art courageous…**_

He hugged himself tighter. His eyes wandered to where the fiercest of the fighters sat, his arms and legs crossed in a casual posture, with his mysterious sword held against his breastbone. His eyes hooded as they traveled over to the form of the beautiful and deceptively lithe Sango.

_**Actually, I find myself agreeing with InuYasha on this one.**_

His hands fisted against his knees. Neither of them thought highly of him. Even Shippou was better equipped for this than he was. Darn it, this could not be right. The Deku Tree _trusted_ him with this.

_**I knew…**_

A little tap on his cheek made him turn to Navi's neutral form on his shoulder, and he followed her pointing finger to the window. They had discussed and argued so much, that night was already over. Gray tinted the horizon and he glanced quickly at all the other bodies in turn. They were strong, but he would have to get stronger.

He knew one thing he could do to start.

Very carefully, he put both hands on the ground, and slowly raised himself up, trying to remain as quiet as possible. As soon as he stood, A pair of suspicious golden yellow snapped open to peer at him. Link froze, caught in his act.

Then Shippou sat up and gave him a heart attack.

"It's no good! I can't sleep at all!"

Kagome sighed as she swung up as well. "It's no good. It's too soon for me."

Sango rose, with Kilala mewing once before arching into a standing position. Miroku stretched briefly from the stiffness.

"Well, time does pass different here than what we're used to. It will probably take several of this world's days to equal one of our own."

"Great!" Shippou hopped onto his fox feet. "Let's get going then."

"But, are you gonna be all right, Link?" Kagome asked. "You still have to sleep, don't you?"

"The forest's energy is still fueling him." Navi explained briefly. "He'll be fine for a while."

"That's good then," Sango picked up her massive weapon and rose to her own two feet. "That means we can head out now and save time."

"_Finally_," came the exasperated comment from a certain non-too-happy half-demon.

The rest agreed. Link silently thanked the turn of events. It seemed to distract InuYasha enough not to comment on his little escape attempt. Except that meant now he would have to pause everyone's attempt to get going more. Just their imagined impatience made him nervous. He pushed his fingers together nervously as he thought of what he wanted to do and what he needed to do.

"Link?" Navi murmured. "What's wrong?"

Now he was going to have to explain. Rats.

It took a little while, but he finally plucked up the courage to confront them before they reached the gate. He marched up, and pulled on InuYasha's sleeve. The man turned to him in question.

"What?"

Link took a breath, and declared as loud as he could past his dread:

"I have to g-go!"

There was a stunned silence as the comment made itself apparent, and Link mentally cursed his stutter. Miroku leaned in around InuYasha.

"Was that a voice I just heard?"

"I think it was," Sango marveled.

Shippou jumped up on Kagome's shoulder and peered down at the boy. "He speaks…" he murmured.

InuYasha just stared down at him, a little bewildered to the comment.

"Why are you telling _me_? We're already heading up the mountain, what more do you want?"

Navi fluttered a little. "Actually, even I don't know. What are you trying to say, Link?"

Oh no, they wanted him to say more? His mouth opened in an attempt to speak, but all the eyes expectantly on him made his bravado waver. Then his eyes betrayed him and flickered to Sango's waiting face, and the bravado promptly shriveled and died. In defeat, he reached back to unhook his shield and brought it out in front to attempt an explanation. The others stared down at it.

"The…" Kagome tried first. "Shield?"

Link nodded. Navi lowered a moment in a sigh.

"Don't tell me, that guard's comment about the shield is getting to you, right? Don't listen to him, you don't need another one. This one is perfectly fine."

"So that's what this was about," InuYasha muttered. "An upgrade."

Reinforcing his determination, he nodded, and stared up, silently daring him to try to stop him.

"Fine, just hurry up and come back."

…Well that was easy. With a pleasantly surprised heart, he turned about on his heel to stroll back to the entrance of the village. Yes, of course, InuYasha must have sensed the determination in him, and did not want to fight back. He nodded to himself in reassurance. And once he got back with a bigger, stronger shield, maybe even Sango would take him seriously.

"We could take Kirara," Said woman offered. "Since only a few of us will needs to go. It should only take a few minutes."

Then he stopped, and looked back confusedly. He had only gone a few steps anyway. But they were talking about coming with him? That wasn't what he had wanted. The flying ball of light looked at Sango a moment, before fluttering down to the two-tailed kitten below.

"So, you're gonna help us, huh?"

The kitten mewed in response, her furry face the perfect picture of cheer.

"She's a reliable mode of transportation," Miroku assured.

"Uh-huh." The response was less than convinced. Even Link seemed skeptical. He doubted he would even be able to balance on her. She came back up. "Well, whatever. Who's coming with us, then?"

"I vote InuYasha!" Kagome cheered with her hand up, and Link's heart nearly stopped.

"Why should _I_ go?"

"Well, it's dangerous out there. He needs someone around who can protect him if monsters show up." She said as a matter-of-fact, wagging her finger a bit too cheerily. "Besides, I think someone looks up to you…" she hinted.

"What are you talking about?"

She looked up innocently. "He did seem to want _your_ approval an awful lot…"

Link blinked, completely confused. Who were they talking about?"

"Tch, you're jus' tryin' to shove it off on me so you don't have to go."

She laughed, a bit too forcefully as she waved him off. "Oh come on InuYasha, you have such little faith in me."

"Keh."

"Oh come now, InuYasha," Miroku encouragingly put a hand on his shoulder, "I think this will be a good experience for you. After all, we will all be traveling together for a while. This will be your chance to bond with the boy."

"Hey, don't you take her side too, monk."

"No, he's right," Sango popped in helpfully. "I think it's a great idea."

"Now you're _all_ against me?" he said indignantly. "I never agreed to this."

"Aw c'mon," Shippou joined in, "you're just gonna leave him to fend for himself? What if something happened to him?" He sighed and shook his head. "It would all be because you wouldn't go with him."

And as the familiar group bickered good naturedly, Link felt his stomach churn in unease. Of all the people that had to accompany him, they wanted to choose _him_? He carefully took a few steps back, attempting to sneak out and travel by himself without them noticing.

"Now InuYasha…"

"…InuYasha…"

"Come on, InuYasha…"

"Alright, fine, I'll do it!" he finally snapped, and stomped away, crossing his arms. "C'mon, Kilala, looks like we're stuck together."

Kagome stopped as an idea struck her. "Hey Shippou, why don't you go with them?"

"Who, me?"

"You and Link would probably get along pretty well."

The little demon turned to the pair, only to stare at a young Link silently pleading for him to do just that. His blue eyes were wide, and sparkled with hope, and his child's hands were clasped together in the universal gesture for pleading. Shippou considered it a second, before huffing, and turning away.

"No, that's okay, I think I'll stay."

And just like that, his hope was brutally shattered into unattainable pieces. They were only spread further when he felt a clawed hand grab a hold of his kokiri tunic collar.

"Quit dawdlin', we're gonna be back by dark if we keeping stalling."

Link held out his hand in one last attempt at pleading as he was dragged on his heels away from the waving companions.

"Have fun, you two!" Kagome called out and waved after them.

"Well, then, shall we get started?" Miroku asked the group. "The least we can do is gather any last minute travel necessities. Maybe find some food that would actually be to our liking."

"Yep!" Shippou puffed out his chest and began his strut to the heart of the village. "They'll be fine, so we ought to get started so we'll be ready when they come back."

"You're awful cheerful, Shippou," Sango noted as they came up behind him.

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm just excited to be in a new place like this. It'll be a chance to test out my skills as a demon."

Briefly he had a memorable image of Mina (or, Princess Zelda, as it was revealed) clutching onto Link's hand, with said boy in green so obviously enjoying the contact. It flashed through his mind, quickly followed by the memory of Link's horror when they suggested InuYasha to go with him. He snickered, despite himself.

"Yep, a new adventure indeed."

The other's glanced at each other curiously as he threw back his head in laughter.

A shame the other young one of the group could not find similar humor.

"Hey, quit man-handling him, you brute!" Navi demanded.

"If the kid'll walk on his own, fine by me."

The release on the green fabric let Link know just a bit too late how quickly he meant. He lost his balance and fell backwards onto the ground, grunting in time with his behind thumping against the hard ground. For a moment he nursed his bruised tailbone, remaining at the midway point between the tree in the center of the plaza plain and the gate entrance before he looked up in time to see InuYasha's white hair and red clothes disappearing through the wood. The boy stood and followed the quickly disappearing demon, and hurried into a jog to catch up, Navi following about in time. Running was the focus until they reached the stairs and hurried down to the feild. Link had to jump at the flare of a huge bout of swirling flames bursting in front of InuYasha. He drew his sword quickly and stepped back from the searing heat.

"What is that?" Navi called out over the fire.

"Relax," InuYasha looked back to them, "It's just Kilala."

And the flames dispersed to show a giant, saber toothed cat, with a creamy fur coat, and red eyes and two swishing tails.

"Ki…lala?"

Navi hovered over uncertainly, and Kilala meowed in cheery greeting. Except now she was so big, with huge teeth, it came out as more of a roar. Navi squeaked and zoomed back to Link.

"Relax, she won't bite." He commented, irritated. "What are you so surprised about? You saw her last night during the fight."

"Um, actually, we were a bit distracted for that." Navi admitted.

The boy, for his part, found himself very curious. Stepping closer to the enlarged cat, he raised the hand that was holding up the shield. The cat demon blinked at the hand, before it got close enough, and she ducked her head under it and nudged it up in urging. The fur was long and very soft to the touch. Link smiled and obliged in petting the overgrown creature, earning a sigh of contentment. After sheathing his sword, he brought his second hand up to feel at her velvety fur and pet the other side of her head, and she licked along his cheek and the side of his forehead. He giggled in surprise, and wiped at his face, before throwing his arms around the cottony neck and burying his face in the fur. She was so warm, and soft, and comfy…

"Oi, you comin' or what?"

Link stiffened and backed away guiltily, blushing hotly. He was supposed to be proving himself, not getting carried away. He nodded quickly and re-hooked his shield onto his baldric. InuYasha sat cross legged on the back of their temporary transportation as he came around, and the boy noticed that the man still looked angry. He tried not to look at him too long, thinking he might incur some sort of wrath, and focused instead on the task of jumping, trying to debate whether to go in front of, or behind the demon.

"Up front, where I can see you."

To be honest, Link wasn't sure he liked the way those words sounded. They sounded like he was in trouble, but he was not about to argue. In front of InuYasha seemed easiest to hold onto and had the most room anyway, so Link figured "what the heck?" and focused on that. Besides, he did not want to seem afraid, of all things. He managed to jump up enough to pull his chest onto the bony shoulders. It was a moment's struggle, but he managed to hoist himself up and turn to settle comfortably on the cat's back, his feet dangling on either side.

"Let's go, Kilala."

And Link yelped as the demon cat lunged upward and took off into the sky.

The woman was a lovely vision. Miroku had to admit that the people here of this world were very different than uniform black hair and brown eyes he was so used to, but the women here were just as beautiful. Such as this slender red-head over here. Her cropped hair swished about her long ears like the blue skirt around her ankles, and shone in the sunlight as she searched frantically for some lost item. Even her simple garb was not enough to hide her lovely figure from his expert eyes.

"Miss…"

The girl turned at the smooth, velvety voice, wide blue eyes frantic with worry. Miroku made sure his pace was slow but deliberate as he neared her and the empty fenced pen she stood close to.

"You seem to be looking for someone."

"I, yes, well, I've lost something very important, and I'm not sure what to do."

Engaged by her plea, he grasped her hands and held them between his own, using his dark eyes to capture her surprised blue orbs.

"There is nothing more heart wrenching to me than a maiden in distress. Please, allow this humble monk to assist you in any way he can."

The woman, for her part, was a little dazed. Soft pastel rainbow clouds and bubbles had engulfed them both, sending her into a minor panic. What on earth was this?

"I… thank you… Mr. Monk." she dropped her hands, and sighed with relief as the strange bubbles vanished. She brightened as she realized his words. "Will you really help me?"

"Of course," he answered smoothly. "I could never leave such a beautiful woman alone to fend for herself."

"Oh, thank you!" and this time she was the one to grasp his hand. "Then you can be the one to search for them and bring them here."

"Them?"

"Miroku…"

An ominous chill vibrated up the man's spine as a certain woman's voice slithered out at him.

"Just what are you doing?" Sango asked suspiciously.

The man turned to her and smiled, as he laughed, though it was obviously strained. "Why nothing, Sango. This young lady here was just asking me to… uh…" It was only until that moment he realized that he had no idea what trouble the girl was in.

The girl took over, too pleased and excited to notice the sudden tension. "He's going to help me find my cuccos!"

The man blinked and looked at her a bit confusedly. "Cuccos?"

The woman nodded, and dropped his hands to step away. "All but one of them escaped. But I'm allergic, so I can't touch them to bring them back. They give me goosebumps. So I'm very glad you've agreed to help me."

Just what were cuccos? Both Miroku and Sango looked to the fenced pen next to the woman to see the stout, white feathered bird clucking inside the fence. A chicken.

"So I…" the humble, yet proud monk turned slowly to the woman. "Have to… collect them?"

The woman nodded and clapped her hands together, "I'm sure it won't be any trouble. They're usually very well behaved."

Sango smirked benevolently to him. "Well, this is very kind of you, Miroku. I'm sure this will be an easy task for a humble monk, such as yourself."

"Sango… you won't accompany me?" he practically begged.

"I'll wait here," Sango assured, and sat on the wood beam of the fence, "And keep count."

"Oh, thank you, miss," the woman piped in. "You are very kind as well. There were seven lost."

"Better get going then," Sango shooed him away, "And get them all before Link and InuYasha come back."

Miroku sighed dejectedly, seeing that he had lost this fight. "Yes, Sango," he conceded, and turned to begin on his task.

As it turned out, Sanog was right, it had only taken a few minutes. Blue light flickered out from under Link's hat, and Navi circled about, and Link frowned in actual disappointment. After the initial terror, he wished the ride had lasted longer.

"That was fast."

"Hurry up, we wanna get this shield or not?"

An irritated jingle escaped the fairy as she snapped. "We're _coming_. Jeez, what's with this guy? Who made _him_ boss?"

Link could not answer as he swung a leg around and slid off of the furry back. About two steps away Kirara transformed back into her tiny kitten form, earning a jump from Link and a squeak from Navi as the fire sprung up again. Kirara pitter-pattered across the wood as she bounded for InuYasha, and Link quickly went into a jog to catch up again.

"What's Miroku doing?" Shippou tilted his head from his perch on Kagome's shoulder.

"I'm not sure." Kagome admitted, and tilted her head the opposite direction. "It looks like he's trying to coax that chicken."

The pair watched in interest as the monk jingled his staff at the feathered bird on the side of a building. The chicken was hopping about, attempting to move around the man, and Miroku used his staff as a barrier to keep the bird at bay, until he approached close enough to finally make a grab for it. A shame that it slipped under his hands and flapped away.

"No!" he cried in distress, and spotted it heading toward Kagome and Shippou. "Don't let it get away!"

The pair glanced down at the bird flap-hopping to them, and for whatever reason, Kagome decided to assist and attempt to trap the bird. Her slower and calmer movements had the bird more at ease, and she picked it up easily, though it made quite the ruffled ruckus when she did. She squeaked and held it away from her as feathers went flying.

"Ah, don't worry, he won't peck at you," Miroku assured, even as he took it away from her. He also held it away from his body as the short wings flapped frantically. "Thank you. This one was giving me trouble."

"Uh, Miroku," Kagome finally asked and picked out a few feathers from her clothes, "What're you doing?"

"Ah, I just caught the third cucco, and now I'm taking it back to the pen."

The pair blinked, and Shippou asked. "What's a cucco? That chicken thing?"

"Yes, I need four more. Ah, perhaps you two could help me?"

"Why are you doing this in the first place, Miroku?" Kagome asked. "We need to get ready before the others come back."

"Well, ah," he looked a smidgen uncomfortable, "I already agreed I would help the poor woman, and I'm not a man to go back on my word."

"Woman? You mean you're getting away with that?" Shippou asked in surprise. "Where's Sango?"

"She's… ah," he cleared his throat, "with her, helping to keep track."

Of you, the pair mentally finished.

"You probably did something to deserve it." Shippou jabbed.

"I did nothing of the sort," he insisted, and fumbled with the bird as it almost escaped from his clutches.

The two sighed at the turn of events, but accepted their fate. "Right. Okay then, Miroku, we'll help you."

The relief on the monk's face was immense. "Thank you both. I'm sure with us working together, we'll be finished in no time."

The cuccoo in his hand clucked indifferently in agreement.

"But you're not listening!" Navi argued.

"Don't need to. This ain't bartering. Either ya got the eighty, or ya don't, I won't go lower. I'm tryin' to run a business. I can't go giving away my merchandise for free."

"We don't want you to give it away. We're not regular customers, see? I mean, we heard from-"

"Don't care where ya heard about us, I just need the money as much as you need that shield. That's how he market works."

"We only have about fifty or so."

"No can do, it's way too low. What if word got out I gave you special treatment? Then I'd be outta business."

"But we're-"

A clawed hand smacking the wood counter with an audible thud stopped both of the heated combatants.

"Look," InuYasha seethed, "I don't give a damn about yer business." he pointed to the merchandise in question, "All I know is that we need that shield. Just take the kid's money and let us go."

"Like hell I am." The burly shopkeeper scowled. "A price is a price, buddy, take it or leave it."

"The damn guard said you could give us a discount, now give it to us!"

"The guard? Ya mean from Death Mountain?" The hearty man let out a laugh. "Well, why didn't ya say so? In that case, that changes everything."

Link's face brightened in hope.

"I'll just make it seventy then. Ought to do it."

His face fell again.

"Why don'tcha jus' get lost, and get the money before trying this stunt?" the shopkeeper complained.

"I'd like to, but I need that stupid thing, and I did not come all the way back here just to get told to my face I couldn't actually get it. Take the fifty."

As a haggling argument commenced, Link stepped back, kicking the counter base briefly in embarrassment. How stupid did this sound? Coming all this way, and needing to be turned away because his pouch was too small. Just his luck. He looked desperately to the great metal shield hanging tauntingly from the top shelf. It was just so close, and yet so far. He could reach over and touch it, yet it was so far out of his reach. How tempting it was to just stroll around the counter and reach up top to get it. And he turned to look fully at he metal shield gleaming in the shop light, as he thought of how he would have to face the others and tell them that he had not managed to get it. He looked back at the shop keeper still arguing with the half demon, glanced at the shield, and looked at the pair again. Navi sighed.

"C'mon, let's leave." she murmured. "This isn't worth it. Let's just go back and work with-" he ducked under the rope- "Link!"

InuYasha, for his part, caught the boy ducking under the barrier rope out of the corner of his eye, though the glance was too quick for the shop keeper to notice. Understanding the emergency, he changed his battle plan. He relaxed his aggressive posture, and leaned back instead, crossing his arms and looking at the man more seriously.

"Alright, fine, you won't lower it that much. How about I throw in ten for the kid's sake and raise it to sixty instead?"

"Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" the man leered. "The answer is still no, I won't go lower than seventy rupees."

"So you want the kid to owe me twenty? Jeez, you're not just greedy, you're heartless too."

"Look, _pal_…"

Link glanced behind him, even as he rose to his tip-toes and reached his hands up. He looked at the man one more time before finally grabbing the metal edges and quickly bringing it down. As quietly as he could, he stretched his legs out to lunge around the counter as he sauntered out to the shop, holding the huge thing in front as he tried to sneak away.

InuYasha waited until his hearing told him that the kid really was out of the shop, before huffing.

"Alright, I see how it is." he turned and stalked out of the shop, "I'll just have to take my business elsewhere."

"Good luck," the man scoffed.

The shopkeeper watched as the strange looking young man left before resting on the counter in aggravated exhaustion. What was with these people? Didn't a set price mean anything to them? Like he would give away such fine craftsmanship for…

He had turned to glance at the shield in question, only to find empty space.

"THIEVES!"

InuYasha broke into a run to catch up with Link.

"WAH! Kagome!" Shippou cried from the heavens. "Help, it's gonna take me away and eat me!"

"Shippou!" The poor protective girl's eyes widened in shock and alarm when she spotted him.

The tiny demon kicked his little fox feet in a panic as he floated high above the floor. He held on for dear life onto the brown cucco flying off over the rooftops. He had just meant to jump down because it was quicker, not because he wanted the thing to carry him away. The sight terrified him so much he gave up on looking over his predicament and kept his eyes firmly shut as he cried out.

"I don't wanna die!" the boy wailed. "Someone get me down!"

"Wait, Shippou!" Kagome called up to him. "You're already coming down."

"Huh?"

The wide teary eyes opened and looked down to notice that the ground did actually look like it was coming closer, though certainly not from lack of effort from the determined cuccoo.

"Just hold on, and you'll come down," Kagome soothed.

Shippou nodded, calmed a bit by the discovery. He waited calmly until he finally landed, though it ended up being on a roof.

"Now, you can just toss it down to me and climb down," Kagome assured.

Though Shippou looked up, and found that he could see Sango and that one lady leaning against the pen. He looked up to the pair, to the cuccoo, to the pair, and back to the cuccoo, and smiled mischievously.

"That's okay Kagome, I can handle it from here."

The tiny demon raised the bird that was practically the same size as him, including the feathers, above his head and turned in the direction of the fence behind the house. He trotted off for a head start, and jumped off the roof top. The cuccoo flapped wildly again, keeping it's impromtu passenger airborne with it as he chuckled joyously at the newly discovered mode of transportation.

Link fidgeted with the newly filched shield on the field on the other side of Hyrule's bridge. He looked down at the strap he had to hold across his chest, and frowned as he could not get it on straight. It was just so big. Kirara binked, and mewed at the sight. With a curious light, Navi circled about.

"It looks good on you," she commented. "You look sharper already: A real emissary!" She bonked him on the head. "But what you did was stupid! What would Saria say? Oooh, shame, _shame_ on you!"

Link rubbed his head idly and whistled while he glanced away from her. She did not need to know.

"Kilala!"

Link spun at the voice as Kilala took the hint, and burst into flame. She roared as InuYasha grabbed a hold of the back of Link's collar, and shoved him onto the cat's back.

"Thieves! Stealers of merchandise!"

"You mean they _caught_ you?" Navi muttered.

"I got out, didn't I?"

A moment later InuYasha was already on Kirara's back, and the demon-cat jumped airborne just before the man with a trail of guards reached them. The small kokiri finally straightened himself out and glanced down worriedly at the angry man and guards below, but turned his attention at the sound of InuYasha's voice.

"Whatever you do, don't tell anyone about this, _especially_ not the monk." The older youth warned the boy. He grunted before looking away. "Otherwise, I'll never hear the end of it."

Link nodded quickly to appease him. Of course, the stern and moral man probably would never approve of such deceitful behavior.

"You!" Navi huffed. "You shouldn't be endorsing this! Now he's going to have bad influences thanks to you."

"Hey, we got the shield, didn't we? Lay off." He crossed his arms and scoffed as his eyes looked to the entrance of Kakariko. "Besides, if something like this rattles you, ya probably won't last long in _Miroku's_ company."

Navi was silent as the statement raised her suspicions. "Now that you mention it, I should have known this sort of thing would happen, after that _routine_ last night. Just what _else_ does Miroku do?"

"You're better off not knowing."

Link ignored them for the sake of looking down at the scenery below. The highest he had ever been was the top ledge just before the Lost Wood's entrance, or on the bridges over the town, but this was completely different actually seeing it all move under you. Unfortunately, it all had to come to an end, though Link promised himself one day he would ask to ride Kirara again. Now was the time to focus on getting to Death Mountain, so he hurried up the steps with InuYasha not far behind. When they actually arrived at the village entrance, they were just a little more than concerned. Both of the errand boys remained very still as they took in the scene before them. InuYasha and Link's eyes were wide and bewildered. Though Navi's eyes were not visible, it could be correctly assumed they were similar.

"Little cuccoo!" Shippou called out from his cupped hands, before kneeling down and lifting a rock to look under it.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Miroku yelled from behind his hand, not noticing the little feathers sticking to his long black and violet robes. A squawking bird flapped through with a desperate Kagome chasing after it, though Miroku and Shippou did not seem phased by the sight and continued with their searching.

"Hey," InuYasha finally ventured, though his wariness was apparent, "would someone mind tellin' me just what the heck is going on?"

"We have to find the final cuccoo," Shippou insisted, though didn't look at them. "It's really hard, we've searched everywhere."

"We know it's somewhere around here, because we can hear it." Miroku elaborated. "But we can't just leave the woman to find it herself, because she can't actually touch them."

Kagome huffed as she finally caught a hold of the jumping bird in front of her, and struck by a moment of brilliance, straightened from her crouch and pleaded before the demon.

"Please, InuYasha, help us out? Use your nose to find the cuccoo."

The youth blinked in confusion. "Looking for what now?"

"The cuccoo. It's just like this one," she held up the obnoxiously squawking bird ruffling feathers all over the place. "But it might be a different color."

He frowned. "Why do I wanna look for some dumb bird?"

Shippou used this time to come up beside Kagome and make the point. " 'Cause if you don't, we'll never be able to leave. Miroku can't do anything until he finishes, Sango said."

"Keh, I'm fine leaving you all behind after ya dumped me with babysitting. What do I care?"

"I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart!" the monk insisted.

"Man," he huffed, and rubbed his head. "I get back from one errand and you all try to send me on another one."

"Please, InuYasha?" Kagome implored.

As the three were getting into yet another back and forth conversation of persuasion, Navi jingled and fluttered near a wood crate on the side of a house directly near the entrance. Link noticed when she flashed green for a moment, and hurried to arrive.

"There's something behind there," she explained as she flew about him. "I can hear noise coming from behind there."

Link looked about curiously, though could not really see through any cracks, or the like, so instead went to pull on it. It did not have good purchase, and it was very ingrained into the dirt and the walls it nestled against, so that endeavor did not last long. The resourceful boy studied the box a moment, and knocked on the wood before nodding to himself in conclusion, and taking a few steps back. He ran and fell into a roll to head butt into the wood. It splintered apart on impact, and a revealed cuccoo clucked and looked about itself at it's new freedom. The others turned at the loud thunk, and three pairs of eyes brightened.

"Link found it!" Shippou's voice called.

"Don't let it get away!" Miroku warned.

Link looked back and forth before standing, and crouching down to scoop up the animal. He held it above his head and looked at them as Shippou jumped and Kagome cheered.

"Yay, you found it!" the girl rejoiced.

Miroku nodded appreciatively. "We are very grateful."

InuYasha scoffed. "I can't believe you're all getting so excited over one stupid bird."

"Come on," Kagome took to leading him to the needed goal. "We can put the little guys back in and be on our way."

It was practically a parade. Kagome lead the way, with a mildly bemused Link in tow, with a happy Shippou and relieved Miroku following behind. InuYasha and Kirara brought up the rear with a little less enthusiasm, though did not stray behind.

"We found it!" Kagome greeted and waved as they approached.

The Cucco Lady brightened. "You did? Really?"

Sango smiled at the lot of them as they approached. "Bring them in then, and we can get going."

InuYasha stared dryly at the relaxed woman. "You seem to be enjoying yourself lazing about there, Sango."

She looked away and said innocently, "I'm just enjoying my day and making sure the cuccos don't escape." She smiled as her beloved kitten companion trotted up to her, and leaped up into her arms. "Hello, Kilala. Did you enjoy your trip?"

Kagome dropped her bird in first, and Link strolled up, and tossed the cucco into the fenced pen. The young woman finally beamed and bowed to the boy.

"Oh thank you so much for all your hard work."

Shippou blinked, and his eagerness faded. "But, he didn't do anything."

The woman did not hear him. "I know it's not much, but please take this. It's fine glass, and should be useful to you. Please take good care of it."

And a little bottle that the woman just so happened to have tucked into the pocket of her skirt found itself hovering above Link's hands, with its own happy tune. He turned to show off his treasure and Navi jingled joyously. "You've received an empty bottle! You can store lots of things in it, and use them for later."

This time the whole group was present to witness it, and they all stared.

"What was that?" Kagome could not help but ask. "I meant to ask last night, but kind of got concerned with other things…"

"So I didn't imagine it the first time," Sango murmured to herself.

Shippou frowned, despite himself. "How come he gets something? We're the ones that caught them all."

"Oh, I know," the woman admitted, and she grew uneasy. "You've all helped me so much. I wish there was more I could do."

"Some rupees would be nice," he suggested nonchalantly.

"Shippou!" Kagome chided in horror.

"Oh no, please," the woman chirped. "It's the least I could do. You've all been working all day, you deserve something too. Please, take this."

She handed over a glittering red gem, and Shippou whooped and held it up with glee.

"All right, I got a rupee!"

He examined the shimmering currency with curiosity while InuYasha slowly cringed away. His brow twitched. That move was far too similar to Link's for his liking.

"That's it, the second he gets music to play for him… I'll put him out of your misery myself."

* * *

Alright, net chap. I know, still no real plot development here. Blame it on InuYasha. That show NEVER moves quick enough. XD On the bright side, I have all the little items out of the way for Kakariko, so they don't have to stick around later.

Anyway, sorry this took so long, but I do want to say something, because unfortunately, the last two reviews I've gotten had the same issue, and I have to say it: I warned you before that this would not be my focus. My mind and heart are mainly focused on my other long-running piece of fanfiction. You ask when the next chapter will be up, and I have to answer: When I'm done with the other one. I switch between fics for updates, and unfortunately for you, the other one takes longer to write. What time I do spend writing, is first and foremost on that one.

The good news is, recently I got a really awesome idea for the final battle and started up the first rough draft. I promise you, it will be epic. I doubt that will have much effect now, but I digress.

I appreciate the reviews, but if you're going to waste it on "Update, I'm getting impatient" don't bother. I'll update when I update. If you want to encourage me, say that you enjoyed it, or tell me why you thought it was good. It will get me thinking about it again, instead of just rolling my eyes in annoyance and going back to my pocky.

For those of you that understand: Thank you. Your patience is appreciated.


	10. Damn convoluted plot devices

"Watch out for rolling Gorons."

Everyone stared at the clear blue screen materializing in front of the wood post sign, trying to make at least a little sense of the opaque words in front. Rolling Gorons? Did they often fall down the mountainside?

Kagome looked at her friends with confusion, "Do you suppose it's a warning to keep strangers out?"

Sango bent at the waist. "Not likely." Her finger traced the line of symbols. "Otherwise it would say "danger" or "keep out". It just says to watch out for them."

"So then..." Shippou tilted his head in confusion. "It's a friendly warning?"

Link was more interested in the metal frame on wheels that Kagome always pushed around. He tapped it with his nail, marveling at the hollow echo and the bright, unfamiliar color. He had never seen anything quite like it. He prodded the black, tough wheel, and fiddled with the thin metal spokes holding it in place. What an odd contraption.

"Do you like my bike?" Kagome asked at the curious child-like creature. "You can ride it once we get back down. I'll teach you how."

He stared wide-eyed back up at her. So it really was for riding?

"Good luck." InuYasha scoffed. "That thing is impossible to master."

"Jut because you couldn't get it, InuYasha, doesn't mean he can't." Kagome said airily.

"I recall mastering it the first time I tried it." Miroku helpfully supplied.

An embarrassed flush raced across the skeptic's face, and he huffed before turning and marching up the mountain path. "Hurry up, we're wasting time."

Link, meanwhile, felt his excitement growing. InuYasha did not know how to ride the "bike"? Then maybe... maybe he could get at least one skill over him! He unwittingly glanced to Sango.

"Hm..." The woman looked up, and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't think I've ever tried riding Kagome's bike before..."

That solidified his decision. He would learn to ride, then teach Sango how to do it. Then she would _have_ to be impressed with him. He turned and tugged on Kagome's skirt, before nodding eagerly in affirmation.

"Great," Kagome smiled brightly. "It's settled then. After we get the stone, I'll teach you how to ride."

Link grinned brightly back in response. He skipped a little head, elated that he had at least one advantage over the half-demon.

Because, as he soon learned, he'd need as many advantages as he could get. Sure, InuYasha was strong enough to kick away any Gorons careless enough to come toward them (and Link was fairly sure that on certain occasions they looked like they were homing in on them), and not to mention agile enough to handle more than one, but it was just unfair to have the half demon strong enough, and agile enough to pick up Link and his new Hylian shield when he ran out in front, and kick three Gorons out of the way while still holding him. There should have been some sort of rule against that. Needless to say, Link was not a happy kokiri by the time they reached the top. However, he reassured himself by patting the pink bike as Kagome propped it up near the entrance of the Goron's city. It was just a matter of time.

With a grunt, the girl who insisted on carrying nearly all of their necessities adjusted her giant yellow knapsack to sit fully on her back, now that the bike could no longer carry most of the burden for her. It was almost half her length. Navi darted around her, glowing green as she examined it.

"What are you carrying in there?" Navi asked. "It looks heavy."

"Oh, you know, this and that." she brushed off.

She had a hard enough time explaining she was from a different era, but now she would have to explain she was from the future era of a completely different world. That, and it was probably best to try to keep a lower profile anyway.

"You know, if you need to take a load off, Link still has some room in his satchel. I'm sure he would be willing to help."

The boy nodded up at Kagome to reassure her, and held out his hands expectantly. The girl took one look at the fist-sized pouch hanging from his belt, and smiled to humor him.

"Thank you, but that's really not necessary. I'll keep it in mind for later, though."

That was he decision, he did not care either way, so he shrugged and followed her and the others inside. A steady drum beat thumped through the mountain city. An accompaniment of hollow wind pipes added staccato to blend in with the city, and the voices of the race of people in the dug tunnels chorused in with his own life. Sango surveyed the smoothed red-brown ceiling in curiosity, half-wittingly examining the rough paintings on the carved rock walls.

"Once you get used to the strange music in this world, it's really not so bad," she commented.

"It's true," Kagome saddled up beside her. "It gives it's own sort of character, doesn't it?"

Shippou strolled up to the edge of the stone ring and peered out over the edge.

"It doesn't look that big for a city," he commented. "It's hardly bigger than a village."

Navi fluttered around Shippou's head. From this top floor, one other level zigzagged down like a staircase to reach the bottom floor. There were catacombs and various doors dug through the dwelling, and her good eyes easily spotted the unlit torches on each level.

"True," she admitted, "Kakariko was bigger than this."

Link disagreed. The little kokiri looked about in wonder at the huge cave, and only after looking down over the edge as well did he figure out the structure. It was basically a giant hollow in the mountain, leveled off at even intervals to create different levels to walk on. It sort of reminded Link of a tilted ladder. And looking around, he could see the different tunnel entrances, and wondered where they led off to. There was probably a lot more to this place than they could see. Something that bothered his curiosity was a giant water pot in the middle of the bottom floor, but the one thing that bugged him most of all was an island hanging right over the middle of the Goron city held by nothing but thick ropes. What was that thing, exactly? Why was it there?

A few tentative sniffs in the air alerted his friends to a signal, and the group looked curiously to the dog's nose.

"InuYasha, what's the matter?

"There's something weird in here. The scent is different here than before, but it's definitely gunpowder."

"Really?" Kagome put a finger on her chin in thought. "Well, we are underground. Maybe the Gorons used explosives to help dig out this cave."

"But you said it was different," Miroku reminded. "How so?"

"More organic. Less sharp."

The four stared at him, though Link did not bother since he did not quite understand what "organic" was supposed to mean anyway.

"Organic gunpowder?" Shippou finally clarified.

"Is there such a thing?" Sango wondered.

"Hey, I smell it, don't I?"

"Well, alright," Kagome agreed a little unsurely. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what we come across then."

"Let's just find the chief, and get the stone. We can get outta here sooner."

"But we don't know where he is," Sango pointed out.

"Our best bet would probably be to split up and ask the people where their chief resides." The monk looked around the underground hollow. "I can't tell just from looking where the biggest "house" is. In which case," he turned to quickly address the rest of his traveling companions. "I'll personally work my way up from the bottom, and see if I can find anyone that way. The rest of you can probably start from the top. We'll meet each other half way then."

"Wait just one second," Sango stepped up to him in suspicion. "And just what will you be doing by yourself?"

"Getting to see what kind of valua- I mean, getting to know the Gorons, of course."

"Huh. Not likely." was her dry response.

"Don't worry, Sango," Shippou said with certainty. "I'm sure Kilala will keep a good eye on him."

The kitten mewed, and licked her paw to groom herself.

"True," Sango agreed, and glanced to the awaiting monk. "but I'll still be sure to keep an eye on him too."

Seeing the risk of her not noticing him, Link jumped in and raised his hand to be called on. The woman blinked down in surprise.

"You too, Link?"

The boy nodded quickly, his green cap tail bobbing behind him. Sango looked to Miroku curiously, where he waved a little nervously, before looking down at a hopeful Link. She smiled down at him.

"Why, thank you. I'd really appreciate it."

The boy smiled in response and rocked back on his heels. Shippou bristled at Link's apparent eagerness. Was the boy trying to out show him in _everything_? He crossed his arms and raised his chin to speak.

"On second thought, I'll help keep an eye on him too. Watching Miroku is more than a one man job, after all."

"Now really, you're all making me out to be some kind of crook." Miroku argued with a little offense. "I believe I should be given a little trust, don't you?"

"Sheesh, you're all wasting time." InuYasha huffed. "Come on Kagome let's get going."

When there was no answering affirmative, he looked around expectantly. Where'd she disappear to?

"Excuse me," the girl called on the level down below to a giant rolling boulder that they assumed was a Goron, "could you tell me where the chief is?"

"Hey, don't just ignore me!"

He huffed and begrudgingly jumped down to meet her on the lower edge. How'd she get down there so fast, anyway? He stood beside her, carefully keeping himself guarded in case any other rolling Gorons decided to wander in a little too close again. The first time it passed by without stopping, and Kagome stared after unsurely. "Oh, I guess he didn't hear me the first time."

She could be patient. So the pair stood for some time in a half awkward silence and waited for the second time. The dust cloud slowly sifted back down to rejoin the thin layer of sand gathered onto the carved floor in preparation to get kicked up again. It was slow progress, despite his chosen mode of transportation. Maybe it was harder to make yourself roll on an even surface than it was down a mountain side. He faithfully kept rolling down the path until he reached a short tunnel directly opposite from where the pair was standing. When the roller emerged, Kagome called louder, and waved her arm in an attempt to get the Goron's attention. She stepped out a little in front to try to make herself more visible.

"We really need to see your leader!" she insisted.

"Oi, we're talkin' to you!" barked the brash one.

"InuYasha, don't yell at them," Kagome urged. "We have to be nice to these people remember?"

"Keh, they're not even paying attention, just like the ones down the mountainside."

"Well, it's harder to hear outside, I'm sure. Violence isn't always the answer, InuYasha. Please, sir?" she tried a little more urgently, and a bit louder. "We just need a second!"

And it rolled right by without a second thought. Kagome watched, stunned as it completely bypassed her.

"I don't believe it!" she finally exclaimed. "He's completely ignoring me. Jerk!"

InuYasha lazily watched the being roll away. "Told ya it wouldn't work. Better off trying to find one that isn't so- huh?"

He blinked when he saw the girl run the opposite way of the giant rolling. "What's she think she's doin?"

He got his answer when she reached the tunnel entryway and cupped her hands over her mouth to yell into the expanse. It certainly got the attention of a couple people on the level above her, at least.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Her amplified voice echoed. "Tell us where the chief is!"

"Oi, Kagome!" he yelled out when he finally figured it out. "Get out from the middle of the road!" Then he figured to hell with it, and ran after her himself. "Kagome!"

The girl stood her ground, even as the giant rolled through the tunnel way toward her.

"It's not nice to ignore people, ya know!" she called out. "Listen to us!"

But the giant would not, and she would not move, so it gave InuYasha an excuse to jump in front of her, crouch low, and with a mighty cry, launch the giant into the air with a well timed punch. The boulder arced above them, and pounded into the mountain ground just behind the pair, where it lay stunned for several moments. Then it groaned and stood to it's full height, and stomped around to face them.

"Why did you stop me from rolling? You threw off my groove."

A tic developed above InuYasha's eyebrow. "We have more important things to worry about than your groove."

Kagome popped out form behind InuYasha at the chance, and smiled politely. "Could you tell us where your leader lives?"

As an answer, he pointed downward. It was to a doorway with a rug, and another Goron standing guard. He turned back around without another word, and went back to his rolling.

"Thank you!" Kagome called after him.

Link pouted from over the edge of the level. The two carried on and walked back to the stairwell, not noticing his pout. Why was he trying to outshine InuYasha again? The more he learned about him, the more he realized it would be impossible.

"Hey!"

He looked up at the calling fairy curiously.

"Listen, you're supposed to be watching Miroku remember?"

"No need," the monk assured as he came up behind them. "We already have all the information we'll need."

Shipou hopped up next to him. "Apparently the stone used to be held on that little island-" he pointed to the rope-held strong hold, "- but now Darunia has it, so we'll have to find him anyway."

Sango peeked over the edge of the level to see her other companions entering the stairwell and descending to the bottom floor. "It looks like Kagome and InuYasha are already on the right track as well. Let's meet up with them and get this over with."

Link was sure to walk beside Sango as they traveled down the rough staircases. He could not hesitate any longer, he had to be sure he was noticed. There were a few things he had figured out from being around this odd group of people. Number one: Kagome was pretty nice. She never tried to talk down to him, and seemed willing to help. Number two: Miroku seemed pretty nice too, but for some reason Sango was mad at him all the time. Navi did not like him either. Number three: Shippou didn't seem to be interested in Sango. That was good. Four: Kilala could get big and scary, but she was actually really nice. And five... none of them thought he was very strong. Well, he would prove that wrong soon enough, but as long as he was nice to Sango, then she'd still be his friend, right?

His train of thought derailed when he saw the behemoth of pottery in the middle of the bottom floor. That thing was a lot bigger than he expected... he knocked on it with his hand curiously. What did they keep in here?

Miroku took the lead and stepped onto the carpet to speak with the Goron standing just outside the door.

"Excuse me, but we wish to speak to your leader. Might we have an audience with him?"

"Big brother Darunia has been in a bad mood ever since the caves were sealed," the Goron explained. "He won't see anyone, except the royal messenger."

"I see." Miroku acknowledged. "But we _are_ messengers from the palace, and bear important news from the princess."

The Goron brightened. "Then, you can help us? I saw you stop our brother," he said to InuYasha, "Surely with your strength, you can help us."

"We'll see what we can do." Miroku offered quickly, "Link?"

The child struck at the pot with as much strength as he could muster. He sliced across, and tried a jab that only deflected, he jumped aside to try another weak point, hacked away, now trying to break the stupid thing more out of pride than an actual wish to see what lay inside. The entire audience sweatdropped at the display of the boy slicing in vain at the giant jug, and Link turned at the sound. He stared a moment, before remembering himself, and sheathing his sword to join them.

"Right, Link, the princess's note, please?"

The boy shuffled in his pack, as Navi silently grumbled at the monk's forward nature. He frowned a moment, trying to dig through the pockets, and then checking other ones. Shippou noticed his hesitation.

"Link?"

The boy looked to him a little helplessly, and searched more frantically, before he shrugged unsurely.

"You _lost_ it?" InuYasha crescendoed, and Link winced.

Navi huffed. "Probably just means we're supposed to find another form of proof." she muttered. "Damn convoluted plot devices."

"Now what do we do?" Shippou complained.

"We'll just have to figure out some other way to get his attention." Sango sighed.

Link fiddled with his fingers in shame, already feeling the guilt and incompetence flood his cheeks in a blush. Great, now they were stuck thanks to him. He looked to the rug, and kicked it a little forlornly. If only there was something he could do. There had to be some way he could prove his connection to the royal family.

...why did those words sound so familiar?

With as much concentration as he could manage, Link thought back to the discussions with the group, thinking back further when they came up empty. He thought further and further back until he remembered the meeting with the princess and Impa, when she taught him the melody, so that he could prove his-

He jolted and hastily brought out his ocarina.

"... to just have to go back and get another message." Miroku guessed. "I fail to see what other options we have."

InuYasha snorted. "You all know my stance. I'd say it'd be easier to just take it."

"But we're representing her highness right now," the monk argued. "We wouldn't want to start a dispute between the people."

"Especially since we'll still need to find the third stone," Sango agreed. "Otherwise people won't trust us as easily."

"So then, who should we have go back?" Kagome asked lightly.

"Not me," the half-human protested. "I already went out for the day."

A soft trill answered him. It was not until this moment that the discussing group noticed how quite it had suddenly gotten. The music of the city had vanished without their realizing. A soft melody swept through the placid atmosphere and all eyes turned to see Link playing his trusty little instrument. He did not notice the sudden attention; his eyes were closed in concentration. The last of the notes echoed through the caves. Then a little jingle alerted the watchers to the door, and it slid up into the stone. Link opened his eyes and sighed in relief. Navi giggled.

"Man, lucky us Saria gave you the ocarina. Otherwise we'd been stuck for sure."

"Way to go, Link!" Kagome encouraged. "Good thinking."

Link grinned with a swell of pride as she swept by, Shippou eagerly going in her wake.

"Just try not to lose that thing too."

And the pride popped the moment InuYasha passed. Navi jingled angrily and instantly fluttered around the demon, prompting yet another argument between the two. Link scowled defensively at the accusation and clutched the instrument tighter. He would defend this with his life if he had to. He tucked it into his pack quickly and followed Sango and Miroku.

"Goroh? What's _this_?" Came the disbelieving booming voice. "I opened the door expecting to see the royal messenger. Not _children_ and a traveling troupe."

Darunia was a giant compared to the other Gorons of the city, though not nearly as big as the perpetual roller on the middle level. His muscled arms and great bulk indicated he was leader for a reason, and his lengthy and wild hair exaggerated his rank like a mocking crown.

"A troupe, huh?" InuYasha muttered, and Kagome shushed him.

Darunia scowled at the company and huffed. "I have no time to deal with strangers."

"Please," Miroku implored and stepped forward. "We need the Sacred Stone, as a favor for the princess."

"Hah!" the massive Goron crossed his arms as he scrutinized him and the people behind him, "The Goron's Ruby is a priceless treasure. You think I'd just give it to anybody? I cannot trust you. Be gone with you! I have more important issues to deal with. My tribe is starving and I must find a way to keep us from dying of famine."

"Famine?" Sango started at the word, and looked to the Chief with sudden urgency. "What do you mean? Has something happened to put you in danger of starvation?"

He rudely turned away from her. "This is a Goron problem. Humans needn't bother themselves with it. Be gone."

There were uneasy glances between each other, before the monk spoke up. Though Link was too busy contemplating what Darunia had said. Famine? Starvation? What were those? He looked upward curiously, then let his eyes travel to the flickering torch beside him, reminding him of the extra Deku stick he still possessed that he had nearly forgotten about. The remembrance made him frown slightly in unease.

"I see. We're sorry to have troubled you."

"Hmph."

The three humans gave a small bow before the dubbed "troupe" took their leave. The companions gathered by the giant clay gourd in the floor to discuss their next plan of action. Kagome let down her bag and Shippou sighed.

"Now what?"

"We ask for clarification." Miroku suggested. "Darunia removed the ruby from the alter recently, and the fact that he was so protective about it makes me think that someone has already attempted to steal it."

"And what he mentioned before about the famine," Sango added, "it could be a ploy to try to make him give it up."

Navi suddenly jingled in anger. "This is exactly what happened to the great Deku Tree! Gannondorf stormed in demanding the stone, and when he refused, the man cursed him! Oh, that man is just so... so...!"

"I understand." Miroku said gently. "It doesn't help he's working with Naraku." He touched his chin thoughtfully. "We'll have to think broader and assume that Gannondorf or Naraku has poisoned their food supply, either as a punishment for refusing them, or as a means of offering a solution in exchange for the stone."

"I guess that means you didn't get to talk with Big Brother Darunia?" The Goron asked, almost desperately.

"I'm afraid not," Miroku admitted. "He won't even tell us what's happening."

"He's been in a bad mood ever since Dodongo's cave was sealed. The only thing that ever cheers him up is the music from the cave, but he won't even leave his room now."

"Music from the cave?" Kagome tested the phrase with her tongue in curiosity.

The watchman brightened and smiled in remembrance. "There's a blocked cave that plays music that we Gorons like to listen to, and Big Brother Darunia is a great dancer."

"You say it's blocked?" Kagome clarified and looked up thoughtfully. "Wonder what could be in there."

"Whatever it is, I say we bring it out, make it play the damn music, and get Daruni talking." InuYasha suggested. "If that's the only thing that cheers him up, then that's the only choice we have."

"Seems that's our only choice. Tell me," he turned to the Goron, "where would this cave be?"

Even as the Goron directed the monk, Link watched the Goron, and took notice of the torch stand next to him. It was unlit, just like the ones inside the Great Deku tree. The additional remembrance depressed him even further, and his fingers touched the small satchel where he kept his instrument, as though seeking bittersweet reassurance.

"I see, thank you," Miroku said to the helpful Goron. "Can you also tell me what Dodongo's cavern is?"

"Dodongos cavern is the cave where we harvest our special rocks, but Big Brother... I mean," he faltered in sudden unease. "I'm not really supposed to tell you that."

"Come now, we only wish to help." Miroku coaxed gently. "How can we be of assistance if we can't understand what's going on?"

Link snapped out of his daze, and glanced around quickly to sharpen his focus before looking back to pay complete attention to the Goron speaking.

"No, Big Brother Darunia will be really mad, we're not supposed to talk to people outside about it."

Seeing that he would not be swayed, Miroku admitted defeat. "There's no helping it then, we'll just have to go by the information we can get out of Darunia ourselves."

"...could learn it. Then we wouldn't have to disturb whatever is in there."

Miroku and Link turned back to the discussion they had apparently missed. All except the monk slowly turned to the child-like male in green, and the little kokiri blinked up in curiosity.

"What?" Navi asked.

"Link," Kagome leaned over her knees to be more level with him. "Do you think you could learn whatever music's coming from that cave?"

Link tried to consider the idea. He had never really tried learning by himself before, and music was not really his specialty. He scratched his scalp thoughtfully. It sounded kind of hard.

"Please?" Sango implored and knelt down beside Kagome. "It could save us a lot of trouble."

_Oh_... Link suddenly nodded in determination, and without another word sprinted for the stone steps.

Kagome looked thoughtfully after him as she straightened. "You know, I think he likes you, Sango."

"Does he?" Sango straightened as well, looking thoughtfully at her. "I thought he was rather fond of you as well."

"Yeah, but he seems like he's trying to help you more. I think it's because you saved him." Kagome tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he wants to thank you, but doesn't know how. Like, repaying a debt."

"He really doesn't need to. I was just trying to make sure he was all right."

"He's a swordsman for the kokiri, right?" InuYasha said suddenly, proving that he was paying attention. "Maybe he respects you as a warrior."

"That could be it. But, wouldn't he feel the same for you? You saved him too."

"Yeah," Shippou piped up, "but InuYasha's a jerk to him. No one would want to be grateful to someone like that."

"Yeah, maybe I should just leave you hanging next time there's a fight," the half-demon countered.

"InuYasha," Kagome warned.

"He could be just trying to prove himself to you," Miroku suggested. "You were rather hard on him after he tried to save Kagome at the river. Perhaps you added insult to injury for his pride."

"I didn't mean to," she protested, though a faint blush betrayed her guilt. "I was just worried about him."

"We know you didn't mean to, Sango," Kagome assured. "I'm sure he's not mad at you or anything for it."

"It's hard to say with him," Sango mused, more to herself than anything. "He never says anything. I just wonder why."

Kirara meowed curiously beside her.

The child leered, trying to tap into his hidden, latent psychic abilities to move the boulders from his path. He knew he had them, but for some reason, they just were not coming to the surface for him. He sighed in defeat and decided that he should probably just do it the old fashioned way: look around and see what sort of hair-brained schemes he could come up with to try against any sensible logic.

Strange blue rocks grew from a plant off to the side, and Link knelt by it curiously. Perfectly round, definitely an odd shade of blue, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. He wondered if there was a dropped ruppee somewhere in the plant. He fiddled with the leaves a moment, and pushed at the round part. When it did not budge, he pushed again, a little harder, with no success. In three second he was pulling up at the round thing with all his might, straining to uproot the thing if it killed him. He yanked and pulled until his was red in the face, and his fingers slipped from the bumpy surface, momentum sending him flying back onto his butt. With the metal Hylian shield on his back, his tailbone suffered the worse for it. Gingerly rolling over, he glanced over his shoulder at the metal edge sourly. He almost grumbled, and switched it for his more trusty wooden one. He missed how light this one was. And it let him feel a little closer to home.

"About time," Navi huffed. "You look ridiculous with that thing on."

Link's brow ticked and he glared at her before standing and turning back to the boulders. Then he swept the scene of the four plants along the entry way with the boulders, trying to figure out where to go from here. He could hear that song, the bright playful nature of a wind instrument tempting him to dance and play. The melody was also long and complicated. He had not been able to master it no matter how he tried. He had to get to whoever was in there, and ask him or her to play for Darunia, but he did not want to go back yet, the others were counting on him. How could he get past? It was noticing that the plant's petals reminded him of fire that he had an idea. Dry plants were flammable. If these worked like torches, then something would happen when he lit all of them, and there was fire in Darunia's house and he still had a deku stick so if he ran quick enough he might just be able to make it in time to light all of them and maybe find a passage!

He gave a whoop of victory and sprinted back out as fast as he would go, leaping off the edge of the level, and rolling onto the bottom floor to safely get up and sprint again.

"Link, did you learn the song?" Kagome asked.

The boy ran right by her into Darunia's chambers, and Shippou blinked after him.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Perfect," Miroku smiled, "Let's join him so that we can settle this once and for-"

He stopped when the boy ran back out again, this time sporting a stick that was almost twice as long as he was tall. That was also on fire. Everyone stared after him, though Shippou was the first to venture out.

"Uh... what's he doing with that stick?"

"Beats me." InuYasha rested his chin on his elbow. "I'm not gonna waste my time trying to figure him out."

"I hope he's not getting into any trouble," Sango mused thoughtfully. "He is rather reckless."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine," Kagome waved it off to assure the others. And herself. "It's not like he can really get into trouble here, right?"

"And he managed to survive before we came along," Miroku supplied. "I'm sure he'll be fine on his own for a few minutes."

"But maybe he was not able to learn the song," Sango suggested, and touched her cheek in thought, "Maybe that's why he hasn't come back yet."

"If _that's_ the case, we'll never figure it out here," InuYasha argued. He looked at the level where the cave loomed, his impatience getting the best of him. "Let's go to this damn cave and do something about it instead of guessing. I feel like I'm about to explode."

**BOOM**s rung in succession through the Goron City, and the group jumped in surprise at the rattling stone. They took one look at each other before reaching the right assumption.

"Link!"

The half demon swore, and jumped for the entrance as the others shot up the stairs, the humans taking their weapons. He shouted into the cave, calling the boy's name in an urgent attempt to make contact.

"LINK! YOU IN THERE? ANNOYING GNAT, ANSWER ME!"

But his only answer was the hollow ring of his echo and soft patter of dust settling. He sniffed the air, and growled in the darkness just as his companions reached the entrance with him.

"Gunpowder."

"Is he not here?" Miroku asked.

"Link?" Kagome ran into the cave, Sango close behind. "Are you in here?"

The slayer knelt to the floor and scanned the rubble with just her eyes, knowing from the quick look that the rocks could not hide his body, if he had been trapped under them.

"He's not here. He must have gone deeper into the cave."

"So he's all right?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"Should we wait for him?" Shippou asked.

"Like hell we're leaving him alone. The kid's a waving red flag with that stone." InuYasha scoffed. "The last thing we need is another ambush."

"InuYasha's right," Miroku agreed. "Now that the cave is unsealed, we don't know what lies inside. Let's get going."

Their eagerness had faded the moment they reached about ten meters into the cave. A great wave of white suddenly enclosed around them. They skid to a stop. They huddled near each other for defense against this strange beast, until they succumbed to the white. Then, just as suddenly, it retreated. The group remained in the circle a second longer, a little spooked, and very wary.

"Is everyone all right?" Sango asked first.

"I think so," Kagome looked down at herself to make sure. "I don't feel any different. Did we get transported to another world again?"

"I hope not." Sango glanced around, and Kilala hopped onto a rock to sniff curiously. "I was just starting to like the other one."

"No, listen." Miroku said, "It's the same music playing before. The source must be around here somewhere. InuYasha?"

The irate youth growled to himself, one lone fist clenched next to his head. His brow ticked, his fist trembled, and the canines flashed in the darkness.

"Damn it all!" He finally swore. "Is it too much to ask for a little normalcy around here? What kind of place can't even let us walk where we need to?"

"Guys, Link's this way!"

Shippou's diminutive form waved to them against the light of the mouth of the cave. Everyone climbed the flight of stairs expectantly, but everyone stopped at the unexpected scenery.

"A... Forest?" Kagome asked hesitantly. A little firefly fluttered in front of her as though in answer.

The massive canopies darkened the glen in perpetual shade. Numerous branches hid the darting critters in their folds. Thick trunks, gnarled bushes and mossy vines wove and overlapped into impenetrable walls, with only a few open spaces around them that hinted at a path leading elsewhere. Fallen and rotted tree trunks made three organic hallways in the maze of woods.

"Correct my if I'm wrong," Miroku watched another firefly flash in front of his nose before it disappeared again, "But weren't the kokiri a child-like race of the forest?"

"Wait..." Kagome darted her eyes around with a newfound curiosity. "You don't think this is..."

"Even if it is, we have a job to do." InuYasha reminded. "And the sooner we get it done, the closer we are to getting to Naraku and finding a way home. Now _where_ are Link and the Gnat?"

"This way." Shippou helpfully called right before darting through one of the fallen logs. "I can hear the music coming from this way."

"Shippou!" Kagome called, before she and the others gave chase.

That was the game for a while. Shippou would dart through a log, avoiding the tiny pathways, and waiting for his friends in the next clear area, before seeing them emerge and darting in another one. The others kept up easily, but could not shake their confusion.

"Why is Shippou acting so strange?" Kagome asked nobody and everybody.

"He seems so sure, but he won't tell us why." Sango added.

"It would be easy enough to say he's just following the music," Miroku surmised. "Since the logs amplify the sound and makes it easier to follow."

"But that still doesn't explain why he would just run off like that instead of telling us." Sango pointed out.

"When we catch up," InuYasha promised. "We'll make him tell us."

A sudden thump ended the chase all too soon, and the group emerged to see Shippou, and Link fallen to the ground, the fox-demon rubbing his head, and the kokiri rubbing his belly.

"Ow... watch where you're going next time." Shippou complained.

Link wrinkled his nose in protest.

"Link!" Kagome gushed, and crouched down beside him. "Are you okay? Where have you been?"

"What?" Navi hovered, almost nonchalantly. "You asked him to learn the song, so we went to learn the song."

"We were afraid you had gotten caught up in the explosion." Miroku explained.

"Nah, I had him get far enough away after he lit them. We had to clear a few obstacles to get to the woods. No big deal. " Navi zoomed up and Link stood. "But, we got what we needed, so now we can get back. Let's go, Link."

The kokiri nodded and smiled proudly up at the others before marching, back the way Shippou had led the group. The others looked to each other dubiously before following.

"So then, what was the source of the music?" Miroku asked curiously.

"Just an old friend of Link's playing." Navi informed. "She taught him the song, so now he can play it too."

"I see. I'm almost disappointed." Miroku cast his gaze upward. "The song seems almost mystical somehow. As though it could lift the spirits of any who heard it."

"You're reading too much into it, Monk." InuYasha scoffed.

"Perhaps," the monk said lightly. "But until I see the true player, I will allow myself the fantasy of a beautiful forest spirit playing to guide the lost travelers."

Link looked at the man in confusion, before Navi quietly told him to ignore the strange person and hurry back to Darunia. Link shrugged, but transitioned into a jog obediently. Shippou jumped with a start.

"Wait, Link, don't go that way-"

But Link had already disappeared into the darkness of the vines and rotten wood of the forest. The little fox demon sighed.

"What, did he go the wrong way?" InuYasha asked before heading for the same path to call out to him. "Oi, kid, stupid-"

"Hold it InuYasha, don't follow him-" Shippou implored and grabbed his leg. "You'll get lost if you do."

"Lost?" the half-human scoffed. "I'd be able to find my way back to you guys just fine."

"No, it's these woods." the little fox tried to explain. "They're tricky. Like they'll swallow you up forever if you're not careful. They're not what they seem."

"An illusion?" InuYasha asked skeptically, but much more somberly.

"Sort of..."

"There is something strange about these woods." Miroku agreed. "Can you not feel it, InuYasha? There are other presences here. Restless spirits that wander these woods. I cannot tell if they feel benevolent or malicious."

The words brought everyone on guard, and surveyed their surroundings with new suspicion. That playful music still echoed through the trees, and from where they were standing, no one could tell which direction it was coming from. The shade now felt cold, and the shadows were small extensions of gloom threatening to steal their sight, were they not careful.

"This whole place feels weird." InuYasha muttered.

"But, Link went in there," Kagome mentioned, and looked after where the boy had gone off in worry. "We should find him before something happens."

"But, this is his home," Sango pointed out. "He would know his way around just fine."

"But, didn't he take a wrong turn?"

The others let that sink in.

"He's doomed." Shippou supplied.

"Navi's with him," Miroku countered. "Even if he is lost, she will be capable of guiding him to safety. She does seem to be rather knowledgeable."

"But how do we find him?" Kagome asked.

"Over here."

Everyone turned and stared again at the fox demon. He was not looking at them, staring down a dark tunnel of old wood in concentration. His friends looked to each other, their earlier questions coming back with a vengeance. What was going on?

"Shippou?" Kagome asked hesitantly. "How are you so sure?"

"I can sense it. It's safe this way. Link will probably end up heading over here."

Miroku walked up beside him, letting his own senses web out through the darkness for any hints belying Shippou's instincts.

"I sense no evil through this path." Miroku agreed. "It must be the spirits themselves that make these woods so dangerous. They will not confuse us through there."

"Let's go then." InuYasha was the first to march forward. "Let's find those two and drag them back the right way."

They followed Shippou through paths and logs and around woven vines, trusting his oddly accurate senses of the forest around him, no longer questioning them or how they came to be.

"Whoo boy. I told you, you need to slow down sometimes."

Link smiled bashfully up at her, and scratched the back of his head nervously as he looked out at the tops of the tree houses and huts of the Kokiri village. Well, he supposed it could have been worse. Navi sighed.

"Come on, let's go back and find the others. Hopefully they did the smart thing and stayed put. We'll get back to them in no time, then get back to the mountain."

Link nodded in agreement, though paused in the motion when another stray fairy suddenly appeared in his field of vision. It brightened to fluorescent green, and he looked curiously at her before looking down out to find the Kokiri that had sent her.

"Oh Link, it _is_ you!" The little girl jumped up and down, her large blonde buns bouncing with her movement. "I knew you'd come back! You have to come down and tell me everything!"

The fairy flew back, the message delivered. The boy weighed the invite silently. Well, he did not want to be rude and ignore her, though he did not like to keep the others waiting either...

"Oh, come on, a few minutes won't hurt." Navi admitted. "Let's just say hello, then hurry back."

That sounded like a good plan. So the boy ran and leapt off the edge of the raised platform, and ran to meet the girl at the bottom of the path to the house of the Know-It-All-Brothers.

The new music in this place was almost as catchy as the melody in the woods, playfully echoing in the air to welcome them. Kagome searched around in wonder at the vibrant grass and trees and sparkling waterfall below them, and Sango stepped out to look over the structures, fairly impressed.

"How unusual," the slayer commented. "And sturdy. Did they really build these themselves?"

"Hey, there's Link," Shippou pointed out.

Out in the close distance, a small gathering of children babbled and scrutinized some strange sight in wonder. Turned out it was the boy they sought. He was settled in an opening, showing off and demonstrating his metal shield to the children.

"Figures." InuYasha was not a happy camper. "We have work to do, and he goes off to play with his _friends_."

"Oh, I'm sure they wouldn't have been long," Kagome brushed it off. "Besides, it was on our way anyway. Why not let him play for a while? Do you think they like people?" She looked out at the children-like race hopefully.

"How should I know?"

"Hi, Link!" Kagome called out, and waved her arm high above her head to get his attention. "Can we come down too?"

All of the children looked around in confusion at the voice, trying to pinpoint it's location. Link and Navi spotted them, and the latter sighed.

"Well, guess it could be worse. Might as well, let's see what happens."

Link looked up at the very colorful group looking down at them, and eagerly grinned and waved back to her in confirmation. The children noticed his line of sight, and went very silent in awe.

"Well, I guess that means we can," Kagome chirped. "C'mon, InuYasha," she coaxed, and pulled him by the elbow to the edge of the raised platform. He protested, and but went with her anyway as the others followed.

"Outside people," one kokiri said in awe.

"Are they monsters?"

The suggestion sent a ripple of anxiety through the children, and Navi quickly soothed them.

"No, no, trust me, they're not monsters. They're with us. They're good guys." she inched to the side. "Mostly."

"They're huge!"

The boy had come to this revelation when the nearing group had reached the ground, and the children could actually see their size. Their curiosity and burning questions drove them forward to meet the oncoming group, and they stopped to meet the little stampede in good grace. Mostly. InuYasha just glared at every little annoying munchkin that got too close for his liking. Everyone else just seemed amused or pleasantly surprised.

"Wow, did you really come from the outside?"

"How come your clothes look funny?"

"Are you _sure_ you're not a monster?"

"So how come Link didn't die?"

"How come you're so small when the others are big?"

Shippou turned to the girl at the last question, and puffed out his chest as he crossed his arms. "Just 'cuz I'm small, doesn't mean I'm not strong. My name's Shippou. I'mma _demon_."

"_Oh_," the girl whispered reverently, before turning to a boy beside her and asking: "What's a demon?"

"How should I know?" the boy turned to another girl behind him. "Do you know what a demon is?"

"Nope, never heard of them."

Another boy kokiri tugged on Miroku's robes, and he glanced at him as he looked up curiously.

"Are you all demons too?"

"Certainly not." the monk assured. "Most of us are human. Kilala is, though," he supplied, petting the small feline affectionately.

"And InuYasha's a half demon." Kagome pointed out helpfully.

"Really?" a girl beside him scrutinized him in confusion. "But, I don't see anything missing." She looked up to him, completely serious. "Where's the other half?"

InuYasha stared, completely confounded as his friends snickered in their hands at his expense. His brow twitched. Annoying brats.

"Nothing's _missing,_" he emphasized. "She means I'm half demon _and_ half human. I have _both_ a human's and demon's blood."

"Really?" a boy came up beside him. "How'd you get them to give it to you? I wouldn't give up _my_ blood to anyone. Why do you want blood anyway? Do you eat it? That's gross."

"Listen kid," one fist clenched and prepared for effective action, before Kagome managed to hold him down.

Link, for his part, wrinkled his nose at the thought. Eating blood? Yech.

"Down boy," she muttered, and tried better to explain. "InuYasha had a human mother, but his father was a very strong demon. Which means InuYasha is both a human, and a demon. Do you understand?"

The group was very quiet as they tried to comprehend this. Until one tentative whisper asked: "What's a mother?"

"What's a father?" asked another.

"And how do I get one?"

"Someone get the Know-it-all Brothers!"

Kagome stared out at the baffled children before her, unsure of how to take the confusion. Okay, this would be a bit harder than she realized. Link, for his part, found himself rather curious too. What was a mother and father? And he knew InuYasha was supposed to be "half" demon, but everyone else was just a demon, or a human, did that mean he was both at the same time? Was that why he was so strong? Link looked down at himself, poking his own arm curiously. He wondered if he could do it too. If he could get a "father" that was a very strong demon, and asked really nicely for some of his blood, maybe he had a chance.

"What's that thing on your back?" Came a girl's voice.

Sango looked down, and adjusted the strap across her sternum, unperturbed by the giant thing against her shoulders. "This is my Hirikotsu. My weapon."

"Oh, a weapon? Are you a fighter like Link?"

"Of sorts." she smiled encouragingly. "I'm a demon slayer."

"A demon slayer!"

"No! Don't hurt Shippou!" the girl cried and grabbed a hold of the little demon.

"Wai-what!" The kitsune kicked out his legs. "Hey what're you doing, let go!"

Sango blinked. "Hold on a second, I think you're mistaken. I'm not going to hurt Shippou-"

"Protect Kilala!" another girl cried.

"But take him!" One boy pointed rudely to InuYasha. "He's gonna take our blood!"

One girl shrieked. "No, I don't want him to take my blood!"

"He had a mother and a father- watch out, he might take ours next!"

And that was enough to send the children scattering for safety, Kilala and Shippou somehow taken along for the ride by the mini mob.

"WAH! Kagome, help!" Shippou cried.

Kilala just blinked and looked around in utter confusion.

"Shippou!" the girl cried in alarm as her little friend screamed away. She hurried after him, trying to save him from disappearing.

"Amazing..." Miroku looked after in awe. "Come to a different world where there is no fear of demons, yet you _still_ manage to alienate the locals." He turned to his hanyou companion. "That's an impressive feat."

"Shove it." he leered dryly after the screaming children. "I say good riddance. Man, those kids are annoying."

Link looked suspiciously to InuYasha, trying to inconspicuously move away in order to protect his blood. InuYasha easily caught the movement and was not too happy about it.

"Don't _you_ go believing them too!" he barked, freezing Link in his guilty tracks.

"What's all this racket!"

The new voice effectively drew the Kokiri's attention, and they all went toward him instead. The girl carrying the little fox-demon came up in front, with the girl carrying Kilala coming up next to her. Both girls held them up to the boy's face, making him back up a second as he stared in confusion.

"Mido, don't let them hurt Shippou!"

"Or little Kilala!"

He stared out over everyone's pleads, wondering what the heck he missed. He stared down at the disgruntled little boy in his face, and scrutinized him. The fairy companion beside him changed to green, and fluttered around them in green, trying to identify them, but not able to. His eyes squinted in judgment.

"And just what are you supposed to be?"

Shippou matched his squinted eyes. "A demon."

"Hmph." the boy straightened and crossed his arms. "You should learn some respect. I'm Mido, an' _I'm_ the leader around here. If yer gonna invade, then ya better listen to _me,_ got it?"

"Ah, we're very sorry," Kagome cut in around the children, finally managing to reach the front and get to the smaller demons. "We didn't mean to drop in like this, we just got lost, and were trying to find our friend."

Mido looked up at the girl, and looked her up and down, seeming to decide whether she was a monster or not.

"And just what are you supposed to be?" he asked. He pointed up boldly at her. "How come your hair's a funny color, and why is your tunic shorter than mine?"

"Er," Kagome blinked, and sweat a little nervously. She scratched her chin. "It's a little complicated..."

Far back, behind the crowd, Link quietly turned around and tried to tip toe behind the wall of InuYasha, Miroku and Sango (Who watched him with surprise) lined conveniently for him. If he could make it to the Lost Woods tunnel before he was spotted...

"Mido..." Sango considered the name. "It sounds familiar..."

"Isn't that the name of the boy you were fighting with?" Miroku asked Link.

Mido looked away from Kagome to see the other strange outside people, and spotted the not so incognito kokiri failing the skulk away.

"YOU!" He pointed at the retreating Link, turning every Kokiri's head following his hand. "I should have known this was your fault!"

Link flinched. Too late...

"You're always causing trouble!" Mido pushed one Kokiri boy out of the way, and that was the cue for the rest of the kokiri to part obediently. "I told you not to come back here!"

Link's face flickered into anger, before turning , and standing straight.

"Was Link banished from the village?" Sango asked with some incredulity.

Miroku observed the unfolding events thoughtfully. "It seems things are more complicated than we realized."

Shippou watched the boy stomp off, and frowned in confusion. "But, I don't get it. What could _Link_ have done to get him so mad?"

"It wasn't his fault."

Shippou looked up at the anxious girl that held him, her whisper barely a sound over the air, but it seemed to taint the rest of the kokiri like a frightening blanket.

"It wasn't, it couldn't have been," she repeated, and held onto him tighter. "It couldn't have..."

Link's feet were shoulder width apart, his hands clenched on either side of him. Not fighting, but challenging. Mido met that challenge by jabbing his finger into the boy's shoulder.

"What, couldn't stand it outside so you came back anyway? I _told_ you not to come back! Yer supposed to listen to what _I_ say now, and I say, you shouldn't be here anymore!"

"Some leader," InuYasha muttered. "He's just some spoiled kid."

"Quiet, dog-boy." Navi bit back. "He has his reasons."

"Reasons? Keh, look at him, he's a scrawny little brat. Probably just jealous 'r something. Link could probably take him in a fight."

"But," Miroku pointed out, "He's not fighting."

Link leered back, scowling and glaring, but not moving or saying a word as Mido growled and raved.

"What makes _you_ so special anyway? You couldn't even do anything! Now he's dead, and it's all your fault!"

The kokiri's anger waved, his determination flickered. Even as he remained still, his defiance visibly crumbled as he curled back. The spectators were suddenly very, very quiet. The playful music that had welcomed the travelers into the woods played on despite the argument, mocking the gravity of the fight taking place in front of them.

"I don't know what The Great Deku Tree, or Saria see in you, but I don't care! You're just stupid and a stupid coward! I'll never see you as one of us!"

Yet Link still did not make a move. Annoyed, and frustrated by the lack of response, Mido turned and pointed to the trio not too far from him.

"And you! I don't know how you know Link, but I don't want you here either. If we're not supposed to go outside, then you shouldn't be in here either."

"Of course," Miroku cut-in smoothly. "We understand, we did not mean to impose. We're sorry for any trouble we might have caused you."

The girls release Shippou and Kilala, and they followed Kagome to reunite with their friends. Right until one little boy grabbed a hold of Kagome's skirt.

"Link can still come back," he said, almost desperately to the girl. "Mido's leader, but he can't really _do_ anything now. We still like him."

The kokiri immediately surrounding him nodded their heads quickly. Kagome could not help the smile that came to her, and she bent down to pat his green-cap.

"Thank you. I'll let him know, okay?"

They all smiled up at her, grateful for her help. She returned to the three remaining fighters. Together, they headed back the way they came up. As soon as they entered the clearing, Link started up in a jog again to reach the tunnel quicker, but Sango's voice stopped him cold.

"Link, wait."

The boy looked down in defeat. She knew. They all knew now. His shame kept his head down as the woman came up beside him, adjusted her strap, and bent at her waist to meet him.

"Link, you don't have to rush. Let's rest a moment before we go see Darunia." she offered gently.

He shook his head in denial. No, no stopping, he had to keep going.

"Don't push yourself." Shippou said. "I'd be mad too if someone said that to me. Wanna talk about it?"

This time he shook his head slowly. Kagome came up behind him, and put one hand on his shoulder.

"The others aren't made at you," she assured. "They still want you to come back."

The kokiri scuffed his boot into the dirt. Even if the thought comforted him, it was not enough to cheer him.

"Then perhaps Navi can clarify," Miroku cut in. "I was under the impression that Link had lifted the curse. Yet what we heard implies the opposite. Which one is it?"

Straw hair draped across his brow, and the fairy lay one invisible hand on his ear, before lifting herself up again.

"Link did destroy the cursed monster. But she had already been inside the Great Deku Tree too long for us to save him. He passed away just after we saved him. Link and I were the only ones he told about the curse. None of the other kokiri know what actually happened to him. If they knew someone had come into the forest to kill their guardian, they would be too frightened to know what to do. Mido only has a hint to what happened. He saw Link was the last one to see the Great Deku Tree."

"I see." the man said. "That would at least explain Mido's behavior. The guardian's role has suddenly fallen very heavily on him. No doubt the notion has him frightened, and has him lashing out on the only possible outlet."

"That doesn't mean he should be saying things like that to Link," Shippou frowned. Sure, he was jealous of the boy, but even he could see the injustice of such an accusation. "It's not _his_ fault what happened."

"Link!" Kagome called after a running Link.

The boy dashed across the clearing into a dark pathway, leaving the girl's eye's stunned as his body disappeared yet again.

"It seems this strikes a deep cord in our new friend." Miroku observed solemnly.

"You don't..." Kagome turned to him slowly, a thought striking her that both worried and disturbed her. "You don't think he actually blames himself, do you, Miroku?"

"Given what we've seen so far... most likely." Miroku uncrossed his arms, and smiled reassuringly to her. "Let's let the subject drop for now. Once we speak with Darunia, and see about getting that stone, then we can confirm our suspicions. Until then, we'll just assure him that we think of him no differently then before."

Kagome nodded once in agreement, hoisting her quiver and trekking forward. Shippou turned and jumped up from her arms to her shoulder, and quickly going back to directing the others on which paths to avoid. Miroku kept along just beside them, and Sango glanced curiously to the loudly dressed silent one.

"You're awfully quiet, InuYasha," she pointed out. "Care to share what's on your mind?"

"Nothin' to report." He brushed off. "Just eager to get the stone and get Naraku." He punched one fist into his palm. "The sooner we convince Darunia, the better. Otherwise this Gannondorf guy's just gonna keep moving ahead of us and putting more people in danger. It's like playing catch up all over again."

Sango drank the words in, and nodded once before looking back ahead. "Just like with Naraku."

Her companion crossed his arms again and stared out over his friends. "_Just_ like with Naraku."

Miroku only paid half a mind as Shippou directed, and InuYasha and Sango spoke behind him. He examined the trees, and hummed thoughtfully.

"Mido mentioned someone by the name of "Saria"..." He grasped his chin and looked up into the barely visible sky. "Now where have I heard that name before?"

"I told you, these are Goron problems to deal with."

Link took a deep breath and withdrew his instrument. It was now or never. He prayed this would be enough. He brought it to his lips, and began. He messed up on the fourth note, making it go flat. He winced and tried again. The first measure went by successfully, and he peeked one eye open to see Darunia's expression. The Chief was no longer glaring down at him, but waiting with bated breath. Expectantly. Link inhaled and plunged forward.

His eyes remained closed, but after a moment he could hear movement in front of him. Heavy footfalls and scuffing, mostly, but he guessed that meant he was dancing.

The others were not fortunate enough to have thought to close their eyes, so they were forced to endure the spectacle of the bulky Chief spinning on his toes, and pumping his arms in the air.

"Aw, yeah! C'mon, baby!"

And yet they could not look away from the train wreck as he danced away.

"Well..." Kagome laughed a little nervously, "At least we know he's in a good mood now, right?"

From the way her friends kept staring at him, she could tell the others did not quite share her optimism. It was a relief when he finally stopped. He regarded Link for a moment as the kokiri put his ocarina away.

"You are the one that played The Song of the Royal Family, are you not?"

It took Link a moment to remember that he meant Zelda's Lullaby, but he nodded nonetheless.

"I see. Then I suppose I must respect to code and tell you our troubles." he leered back at the crowd standing behind him. "My words are for the royal messenger only. I will only speak if you wait outside."

"Oh come on," Shippou complained. "How come he's the only one who gets to listen?"

"Now, now, Shippou," Kagome soothed. "That's not important, as long as he can get the stone."

"And technically, he is the one her highness appointed as her messenger." Miroku pointed out. "We are really just tag-alongs trying to find a way back home."

Link watched the others leaving the room with a faint sense of elated accomplishment. He had actually managed to gain the confidence of the leader of the Gorons. The door grated shut, and he turned back to Darunia just as he lifted his foot from the hidden switch on the floor.

"I do not trust these strangers," the Goron said. "You should not either."

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Navi assured. "But they're not bad people, just weird."

Link agreed with the sentiment. Though he would have to try to remember to keep an eye on InuYasha to protect his blood. And ask them what a mother and a father was.

* * *

Kay kay, you know how much I love you guys? I updated this BEFORE Actuate. Aren't you happy? Mostly because I've been getting a lot of other projects done, and this one was shorter, so I could take it off of my to do list quicker. That, and I want to focus all on the cave next chapter, so cut it off here.

I'm pretty sure this goes without saying, but... I don't want it to be EXACTLY like the game. I say this because something is going to happen next chapter, and you guys will probably be all like: huh? That doesn't happen in the game!

Well... I wanna have some fun with it. Keeps things interesting. XD And if you're wondering why I didn't have them meet Saria, well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

Thanks again for you patience. Hope you enjoyed this update. No fight scene, but will be made up for in the next chapter.


	11. Dodongo's Labyrinth

A tremor slithered through the crevices of the mountain, shaking everything on a hard surface. Gravel and sand in the mine floors shuddered, and clay pots clamored. In pockets scattered through the depths of the volcano, steaming pools of magma bubbled and sloshed. The smaller platforms in the main cavity swayed gently in the surface as they bobbed precariously in the half-solid surface. The quake stopped the designated monster slayers the moment they passed through the door that led to the large center cavity of the mines. The rumble only lasted a few long moments, but was still enough to make everyone more than cautious.

"What was that?" Kagome asked no one and everyone.

"Whatever it was wasn't natural," suspected InuYasha. "Somethin' in here's restless."

"Let's just hope it doesn't wake up the volcano," Sango pointed out.

"Or whatever that's supposed to be," Shippou grimaced as he looked at the giant skull that grinned eternally at them.

The space was hot and stuffy, illuminated with an eerie lambent orange. The light came from lava that had mostly settled into black rock, but still had lethal waves of heat shooting through. This half solid surface was a floor that was about four meters below the ledge jutting from the mouth of the cavity. Ledges hugged the perimeter of the cavity as well, on the same level as the entrance ledge, and it was clear on either side of the cavity were several doorways leading to unknown destinations. However, there were breaks in the ledges that prevented easy travel around the edge of the cavity. The solution, apparently, was a series of platforms, most likely constructed by the Gorons that were also on the same level as the ledges. There was on good-sized one in the center of the ring that could easily hold all of them. The skull in question was a giant reptilian looking beast with a long snout and clearly sharp teeth, and rested on the good-sized platform in the very middle of the cavern. It was directly across from the entrance, forcing the group to face it. To help travel to that platform was a series of three smaller surfaces: one directly in front of the mouth of the cavity, one to help reach the right ledge from the platform, and one to the left. It was these platforms that had swayed from the quake, and were now trying to steady themselves again, though the one directly in front of them still bobbed precariously.

"I'll go with Kagome!" Shippou shouted through the cave as he hopped on the girl's shoulder.

"And I'll go with InuYasha, to make sure he stays out of trouble," Kagome chirped.

"Hey, wait a second," InuYasha said in offense, even as Kagome waved cheerily at him, "You make it sound like _I'm_ the one that needs to be watched."

"Then Sango and I will take care of the other side," Miroku cut in.

"Agreed. Clearing out the cave will go much faster if we split up," Sango fiddled with the neck of her battle suit as Kilala settled on her shoulder.

Link tilted his head when looking at the demon slayer, rather curious about the outfit. She had gone to change while he had blown up the boulder blocking the way to the cave, and had been stealing glances at her ever since. For the other grown-ups, their clothes were a little looser on them, so this was the second time he had seen the real shape of a grown woman's body. Impa's had been formed in a similar way. Why was it so different? It was nothing like the kokiri girls at all, with strange shapes and sizes. It made him wonder if maybe a grown man's body was different too, but in ways he could not see. He fiddled with his tunic self consciously, making Navi suspicious.

"Hey, what's with you?"

"So Link," Kagome leaned down in front of him. "Who do you want to go with?"

The kokiri looked up between the two groups waiting expectantly with a little surprise. There had never been any talk before about splitting up through the cave. With one final look at InuYasha, he made his decision, and shuffled over to Sango and Miroku.

"See," Kagome complained to the half-demon. "You've scared him."

"It's not like I did anything," he defended.

"All right then, we have our numbers," Miroku announced. "Once we're done with our side, we'll regroup back here, and report to Darunia."

"Right, I'll start," Sango said, scowling at a pillar-like creature on the platform that had been spinning in a way that did not sit well with her. "Stand back."

It was on the giant platform in the center, directly in front of the giant skull, and its round head was almost entirely a giant eye that rotated a full circle to keep watch of the cavity. From the ledge jutting from the mouth of the entrance was a rickety pier. The wood was dark from the heat and smoke, and splintered from the quakes that had been plaguing the mountain. It was at the very beginning of this pier that Sango stepped up to plant her feet, and brought back the giant boomerang weapon. One foot went back, the other came to the front, and she flung her whole body forward, launching the thing into an arc that plowed into the pillar. It crumbled easily, and Link watched in awe as it whirled through the air to come right back to its mistress. She placed one hand on her hip and looked almost disappointedly where the thing had once stood.

"That was almost too easy. I wonder if the whole cave is like this."

Link had not taken his eyes off of the giant weapon and leaned a little closer to get a better look. Navi did the same, flashing green as she tried to identify it for his benefit, though no answer came up in her vault of knowledge. Seeing the fairy and kokiri's confusion, the monk decided to elaborate.

"That is Sango's Hiraikotsu," Miroku explained. "It's a weapon made from the bones of slain demons."

Kagome picked up on Miroku's train of thought, and helpfully assisted. "And InuYasha's sword is called the Tessaiga. It was made from the fang of InuYasha's father, but then InuYasha used his own fang to fix it when it broke."

"Huh." Navi flitted about, examining both weapons as they were mentioned. "Bones and fangs huh? Mers, your world is morbid."

Link, however, found himself rather curious. If they were from demons, then why were these demons still here? Weren't they bad, if Sango was a slayer? But, Kilala seemed to help her and she was a demon too. They were all after this "Naraku" person who was also a demon, and was bad, but Shippou and Kilala were good? But, InuYasha went and stole people's blood, how could he be good?

Giving up the train of thought, he went for another one while he rubbed his scalp under his hat. The other one was giving him a headache. Could his weapons be strong if they were made from demon bones and fangs? Oh, but the only ones in the area were Shippou, Kilala, and InuYasha. He did not exactly want to kill them for weapons, and he doubted they would want to give up their fangs. Well, he could still try. So the little kokiri took a breath to steel his nerves, marched up to InuYasha, and held his hand out expectantly. The fighter stared back in confusion.

"What? I don't have any food on me."

Link scowled at the implication, and jutted his hand out a little further.

"What's your problem?" InuYasha complained.

"Come on, Link," Sango cut in. She and Miroku had already jumped onto a platform going to the right of the central platform. "Let's get going."

Link snapped his fingers at the lost chance, and hurried to catch up. He would get that fang yet. Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippou had taken the left side, while Sango, Miroku, Kilala, Link and Navi took the right. It seemed like it would be an easy enough mission. Sango and InuYasha could take care of the spinning pillars easily enough, and Link noted a few more bomb flowers. The trouble did not start until they went through the doors.

"Do you think they harvested these here?" Kagome tilted her head.

"Maybe they were making a garden," Shippou tilted his head the other way.

"I say we knock the damn thing down and get it over with," InuYasha suggested.

The thing the trio was referring to was a giant stone structure. At first it appeared to be a simple though large rectangle block, yet zigzagged like a staircase at the top. It was very tall, and towered over them, though was only about four paces wide. Along the perimeter of the room was a rickety wooden ramp that started out on either side of the stone structure. It circled back, presumably to a door they could not see that was behind them on the second "level". Besides that, there were no particular features of the room. (Except for a patch of the wall that was darker, rougher, and more cracked then the rest that was right next to a bomb flower, but hey, that could not possibly be important enough to worry about.) The odd thing that captured everyone's attention was the bomb flowers that lined up around the bottom of the rectangular structure. Sure, they saw a couple before, but to see so many growing so close together was a little surprising. It seemed a little dangerous, actually.

"But you can't use the Windscar in here," Kagome argued. "You could make the room collapse, not to mention set off the volcano."

"I know that," InuYasha huffed. "I'm just saying this thing is in our way. And I don't want to spend all day hacking it down with Tessaiga." He looked up at the vine covered bridge-like structure circling the room. "I'm gonna scout ahead, you two wait here and I'll see if I can find another way around."

It was not like there was any danger in them waiting anyway. There were no beasts in this room. So he traveled up to the left side of the stone structure first, and leaped the whole four meters onto the rickety platform. It was when he was turning to look up the corner of the ramp's incline that he heard a noise. Like a rustling in the leaves, except much more purposeful. He sniffed the air carefully, but it still did not good. The air was musky and stagnant, as well as hot. The structure made a convenient staircase for him on this level, so he made his way up to meet whoever was up there. He had to march with big steps, because this stair case had giant levels. Figured that nothing here made sense. When he reached the top, he found the source of the noise, and he raised an eyebrow.

"A spider? They're tellin us this cavern is off limits because there's a spider in every room?"

The shiny backed arachnid rotated around and around its place, either not sensing him, or just not caring. Either way, InuYasha figured that a deal was a deal, and cracked his knuckles. Spider or not, they were supposed to clear out everything. He flung back his hand, and let his claws fly and tear into the thing, not even bothering to call out his attack. When it growled sputtered to its death, InuYasha sniffed, and turned on his heel. Until he heard a little jingle that stopped him cold. Oh no, no, please don't tell him… He turned around slowly despite his internal protest, and had his worst fear confirmed. Where the spider had just been was a skull. Not a big scary skull, but a shiny, golden, little skull that twirled in mid-air.

What he supposed to do? Leave it there? Was it a cursed relic? Some sort of trap of false security? Or was it something of this world he was supposed to collect? No, there was never any mention… but how-

"InuYasha?" Came Kagome's curious call. "Did you find anything up there?"

"Nothing important," he called back quickly, and cast a suspicious leer to the token.

Like heck he was going to let it get the best of him. So he stepped forward decisively, and swiped his arm forward, for once in his life praying for his safety. If he got a theme song or held it up in excitement, it would be all over for him. It took a moment for him to realize he had snatched the thing from the air. He peered open one eye, and then the other as he looked at the slightly dulled token, and sighed with relief. Thank goodness. He was still sane. He put it in his pocket, for lack of anywhere else, and marched on.

When he traveled up the ramp, he encountered another spider, this one on the vines, though it was a little different than the last one, and did not leave behind a token. He decided to check the next room just to be sure it would be safe to bring Kagome and Shippou up here as well. Everything was looking far too easy for his liking. It would be just like Naraku to lead him into a false sense of security.

So he stepped through the door, and knew he was right the moment metal bars came down behind him.

D: D: D: D: D:

Shippou looked thoughtfully at the bomb flowers lining the structure. "Do you think they would be enough to bring it down?"

"But, that seems a little risky," Kagome frowned a bit uncertainly. "What if we get caught up in the explosion?"

"Well, they take a while," He pointed out. "Link tried so many times at the entrance I practically have the time memorized."

"That's true. If we get far enough away, we should be safe."

"Right, leave it to me," the tiny kitsune announced proudly, and summoned a palm of blue flame. "Stand back."

He brought his arm back, and was just about to throw it forward for his attack, but something stopped both him and Kagome in their tracks. There was a low rumble steadily increasing in sound. It was not like the rumble of a mountain quake, more like the churning and rubbing of earth. The vibrations traveled from the bottoms of their feet up their legs and made their heart rate quicken. One pair of green eyes, and brown eyes looked down to the floor under them. This had to be what was causing the quakes.

"Do you hear that too, Kagome?" Shippou whispered.

"Yeah," the girl tightened her grip on her bow, and slowly reached behind her for an arrow from her quiver. "Maybe it hasn't noticed us yet."

Her heart hammered, half-wishing that the jewel shards worked in this world, and that the beast had one. At least then she would know where to aim.

"Hey InuYasha," Shippou called out quietly with an edge of fear, "There's something down here…"

There was no answer, and the pair could both feel, and hear the rumble get louder for a second, directly behind them. The girl and kitsune whirled to face the huge patch of darker crumbling rock. Kagome stepped back to be against the stone structure, and drew her bow as Shippou darted to her side. The doorway remained impassive, even when behind it the rubbing grew more sharp and pronounced. There was a bark that made the pair tense a moment. It was a muted sound caught somewhere between a growl and a big man grunting from exertion. There was a series of stomps. One, two, three- then a clang, like sword against stone. That grunting sound started again, but cresendoed into a wail as the stomps increased in tempo and sound.

"Out of the way!"

Kagome called the warning, and they both dove to the side just as an explosion blew apart the rock patch. They rolled back onto their feet, and readied their weapons again to prepare for whatever caused the burst, but it had caused a chain reaction. The flying rubble knocked into the bombs along the stone structure, igniting them. Simultaneously the creature bucked and a mountain quake shook the room. Almost instantly the explosions circled around the gray pillar, forcing it to fall to the floor. The foreign vibrations startled and confused the creature, making it buck wildly under the ground, just as the rumble sent tremors through the earth, knocking both Kagome and Shippou onto the floor. They shouted in surprise and shock as they were sent tumbling to the floor.

o_o_o _o_o_o

The demon slayer, monk, and kokiri found that there was only one door that would open for them. The other one was stuck shut for whatever reason, as Sango discovered when she attempted to enter it. (She also found an odd square button with a pattern on it, but hey, that could not possibly be important enough to worry about, right?) Link had been too short to climb the ledge of the tunnel, and could not see the activities where the door was at, so had to trust her on her judgment. They eventually wound up in what looked like a mine, with square wood posts and mortar stones making up the walls. The passage was not a straight hall and had sharp turns and wall corners jutting out from the edge. The build was old and stressed, from the looks of the cracked foundation and wood. Dust and gravel covered the floor, presumably accumulated from the bits shaken off from the walls every time the volcano quaked. What caught their attention were the wiggling green lizards that burrowed from the dirt, slithered over and tried to jump them. Link and Miroku lashed up instantly with their main weapons, though Sango had to draw her small sword due to the space. There were only two, and Link and Miroku happened to get them this time. They went down after one swipe, but all five onlookers had a very bad feeling when they started flashing. "Watch out!" Came Navi's warning, and everyone had moved back quickly enough, for which they were grateful for.

"All right, note to self:" Navi muttered, "even monsters explode. Keep distance."

It was advice everyone made sure to follow, as they traveled down the passage. It became a little more routine after the next two encounters. Block, slice, back up, come in and try again. It did get a little more troublesome when more than one wriggled out of the soil, but there was also more than one of them, making it easier to handle. At least, for the fighters. The shoddy construction was another story. At one point, four lizards had reared up to strike them. Naturally, the three fighters had to strike back. It was unfortunate that three lizards had landed near a weak point in the wall for them to explode. The others moved back, expecting the beam to break. The wood creaked precariously, but otherwise remained upright. The fighters were silent another few moments, before deeming it safe to continue.

It was at that moment a distant explosion sounded, and something caused a mountain quake to shake the tunnel. The mortar and wood creaked one final time, and posts broke off in chunks on either side of them. Rock and mortar cracked and broke off from strain and lack of support, and more beams began to creak and fall from the continuous quake.

"The tunnel is collapsing!" Sango realized with alarm.

"Everyone, get out of the way!" Miroku called.

The two adults instantly backtracked to avoid the debris and run for the door, but Link had decided to go forward. In the rush, no one had noticed the mix-up until two seconds too late, and the posts and stone had already made a hazardous maze to separate them. As though this fact were not enough, the falling pieces beat into the already softened floor, sending weakening tremors through the soil. When something gave a particularly powerful buck against the floor under the kokiri's feet, it became too much for the floor to sustain. He tumbled into the dark with a scream.

"Link!"

Sango ran forward at the sound, but Miroku yanked her back just as her foot had broken through the floor. He pulled her flush against him as they jumped back to avoid the cracks. The soil broke down, and the pair looked through the hole in horror when they noticed the glowing flow of lava just three meters down below them. The moment the shaking stopped they tried to search for an opening in the rocks and wood.

"Are you all right?" Miroku called through the hole, though could see nothing but lava, making the two all the more nervous. "Say something!"

There was a groan, a cough, and then: "We're fine," Navi called out from the other side. "Link's okay, no one's hurt- sweet mercy that's lava! No, Link don't touch that!"

Both adults paled. Then looked down when they felt their feet sinking, and stepped back as quickly as they dared from the place they stood in order to get onto solid ground. Neither let go of each other as they made their trek back, until it felt sturdy under their feet again.

"Looks like we're too heavy for it," Miroku observed. "We can't get to Link and Navi without risking our own safety."

"Kilala," Sango said instantly, "Can you look after him?"

The cat demon meowed, and hopped off of her shoulder to jump across the rubble. She bounced along the posts and leaped over the boulders until she found the small hole Link and Navi had fallen through. The moment Link saw her, he smiled and stretched out a hand to say hello. She jumped down from the edge to land by his feet, and mewled up to him. The place they had fallen through was not terribly big around, really more of a long passage, but one part was made wider by the narrow pool of lava directly next to the dug tunnel. It was not a large spring of molten material, just in an unfortunate place that made immediate rescue impossible. It had really been a miracle that let Link fall just shy of it.

"Well," Navi flittered down by Kilala, making the feline dart her head around to follow her, "You're okay, I guess. You're kind of normal in comparison, actually."

The feline kept her face darting about, until she leaned back on her haunches, wiggled her hind legs, and pounced. The fairy squeaked and swung to the side, only to have Kilala turn and pounce again.

"I take it back- bad kitty! Down kitty."

The fairy bobbed up and down. And fluttered out of reach, only to make the kitten jump higher. Link could not help himself: he snorted at the sight.

"Hey, don't laugh at me!" Navi took refuge by his face. "That cat is out to get me!"

Even that was not a safe haven, as Kilala promptly jumped on Link's shoulder to reach her. The fairy yelped and dove under the hat, and kokiri's lips contorted in trying to keep down his sign of amusement. Though Kilala looked to the hat curiously, seemed satisfied, and instead settled better on his shoulder.

"I'm not coming out until she's gone!" Navi warned.

"Is everything all right?" Sango called through the hole, more than a little curious at the noise.

Link was trying to focus down the snickers threatening to burst, but managed to stammer out: "Ye-hes."

"It is not! Your cat is out to get me!"

Sango and Miroku both looked to each other a little in surprise, then in amusement.

"I can assure you, Kilala means no harm," Miroku promised. "Are you stuck in there? Can you get out?"

The kokiri craned his neck to see where he had fallen. Kilala could probably get him back up, but the remembrance of the mine made him reconsider. Would he still be able to move around up there? Most likely not. "No."

"Can you move around down there?"

Link turned around to inspect the place more thoroughly. The tunnel more or less ended where the pool of lava was, making more of a head, but the long and narrow passage reached down further into the mountain from the other way. "Yes."

Both adult's faces turned to satisfaction at the continuous sound of his voice. That must have meant he was feeling better. Or at least, more comfortable with them.

"Then keep following that way," Miroku suggested.

"We'll try to meet you back in the center room," Sango elaborated. "Hopefully it will converge back there, somehow, and Kilala can get you out of there."

"Meanwhile, we'll try to find another way to clear this side. If nothing else, we'll help the others clear their side faster, then come back here later."

"Just stay close to Kilala and wait for us to re-"

The woman shuddered and straightened in the monk's grasp. She pulled back and slapped his cheek.

"Miroku! How can you think about that at a time like this?" She demanded.

"It's the hand! It has a mind of its own, I swear!" he defended as he brought both hands up.

"I can't believe you!" The woman screamed as she marched back to the door.

"Sango, please don't be angry," he pleaded, even as he went after her.

Navi huffed to herself, even as they heard the footsteps on the other side of the door fading. Crazy, all of them. The kokiri looked after the hole in a little confusion, and more than a little worried. That was the second time this had happened. Did Sango tend to slap people without warning? Maybe he should reconsider his interests. He shook his head quickly to dispel the thought. Now was not the time to worry. Link turned to look at the rest of the mine passage that awaited him. The yawning passage seemed almost limitless, and was dusty with lack of moisture. The endless pitch black made his heart quicken with trepidation. Monsters, he could handle, but he really hoped the next shake would not take out more of the structure, and him with it.

Besides that, he could have sworn he saw something slithering down that way when he was falling.

D: D: D: D: D: D:

"He _what_!"

The two duos met in the center, and when the information had been relayed of what had happened to their companions, their sudden worry and stress about the situation had just gone into dangerous levels.

"This is bad," Sango looked around the cavern, as though hoping to see Link or InuYasha walking out from another entrance, though there were no other clear doorways that she could see. "We keep getting split up."

"And if Kagome and Shippou are right about something under the mines, then that would explain the structure collapsing, and the passage Link found." Miroku pointed out. "That means we have to be careful and know that the next quake might take us underground."

"Link," the demon slayer's heart nearly stopped. "He's down there with that thing!"

"I didn't even think of that," Kagome realized in horror. "We have to find him!"

"Now hold on," Miroku halted. "We don't know how extensive that passage is. There is most likely more than one tunnel underground. Even if we went down there, we could get lost looking for him too."

"But," Shippou fidgeted on Kagome's shoulder, his own eyes wide with uncertainty. "He can't face that thing by himself. What if he gets killed?"

"Kilala is with him," Sango reminded, though she did not look at them when she tried to assure everyone. "I can trust her to keep an eye on him, the problem is that he seems to always barrel ahead before thinking. I'm worried that he'll get in over his head."

"Especially since he doesn't have InuYasha's strength to back up his impulsive nature," Shippou jabbed.

"Navi doesn't seem to help hold him back either," Miroku agreed, "but in this case, it's more risky to try to follow him in that maze. We'll have to trust that whatever is down there has retreated for now, and Kilala will be able to get him back to the surface."

Sango did not say anything to that, keeping up her scrutiny of the room for a distraction, though stopped when she noticed a couple of features that had escaped notice before. "Where do you suppose those go?"

The others followed her line of sight. There were two hanging bridges connecting unseen doors from either end of the room; series of wooden planks held up by rope attached to the ceiling. There were two, one that ran over the front entrance to the cavity, and one that draped above the giant skull. After a moment of looking at them, Kagome bumped her fist on her palm.

"So that's what they are!"

"What is it, Kagome?" Miroku asked, as the girl unrolled the parchment that had been in her palm.

"It's a map!" She declared, and stretched it out for the others to see. "It was in the room that thing was in before. See? These are the bridges." She pointed to the long lines that connected the two squares on either side of the bottom part of the map. "This must be where Shippou and I were before," she continued, and followed with her finger to the room she figured they had been in, and traced the outer edges. "This is the way InuYasha took, before the room sealed him in."

"So he cannot escape, no matter how he tries?" Miroku clarified.

"Not without the room collapsing," Kagome elaborated. "The bars won't budge, but there's not enough room for any of his attacks without damaging something."

"Which I'm sure the Gorons won't appreciate, if we can help it. We can come back this way, too," Miroku realized, and took his own finger to follow on the front bridge. "It leads to the same corner. Perhaps we can meet him in a different way if we try this direction."

"But, should someone wait for Link?" Kagome wondered.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Miroku smiled in assurance. "We told him to wait for us here if he found his way back."

Because, as they all knew, Link was _so_ good at doing what they told him to do.

There was a room, far in the back of the mine. It was simple, small, and square, with a single door. The black rock that made up the wall glowed hot red with the heat of the magma channeling through the mountain. In each of the four corners was a post that was ivory and marbled, and look suspiciously like bone that curved into points in the ceiling like ribs. A small chest sat in the back of this room, across from the single big iron door. Between the door and the chest, a square patch of earth cracked and crumbled weakly from the shakes. It was through this patch that Kilala burst through the floor with a terrified and excited Link on her back. She reached to a corner, just as the beast reared through the hole she just made. The moment it showed its face, Link chucked a deku nut, stunning it.

"Now!"

The demon cat leaped, and Link swung his sword at the stunned creature, hitting its weak point, and roaring as it slithered back down into the hole.

"No time," Navi said breathlessly. "IT'll come back."

Link jumped off of Kilala once she landed, and raced to the door. The moment he put his hand on the rusted metal, the iron slid up to allow passage. But Iron bars blocked his passage.

"Are you kidding?" Navi shrieked. "Din's rage, we must have come through the wrong way!"

Blind and enraged stomps down below let the others know the beast was not happy.

"Let me through, I'll find out how to open it!"

Link opened the door again, and the fairy zipped through. The room was larger than the last, and also square, but with three tunnels that went into a passage elsewhere. She zoomed around the room in an instant, drawing the attention of two fire keese that had been flitting around the place. She swore, even as she flew in circles to avoid their wrath, and jingled in relieved discovery when she found the answer in the center of the floor. She tried to press into the switch, but she was too little and to activate it, and she had to fly away when the fire keese came too close. Her mind raced, even as she flew back to the bars.

"Let me in!"

She zipped through just as the door opened, and by sheer luck she came face to face with her answer.

"Kilala! You can shrink down and fit through the bars!"

The cat meowed in protest, and just then the beast returned good as new, and ready for more beatings. The cat demon leaped to the thing, trying to knock it down with her strength, but her fangs were no matched against its armor, and it knocked her against the wall.

"He'll be fine for a bit, but die if he stays in here!" Navi shrieked. "You're the only one that can get through and help him!"

The boy had jumped to the side to avoid a thrash against the floor, and when the beast showed its face again he leaped and brought his sword down, catching it in the weak point again.

"See? Trust me!" Navi pleaded. "Link, the door!"

The kokiri raced over during the distraction, and while Kilala did not like the idea, she knew they would get killed into this tiny space. So she erupted into fire just as the door opened, and the tiny kitten darted through the bars.

"Follow me," Navi urged, and zipped to the center of the room.

She stopped just above a stone border in the shape of a square inlaid in the ground. Kilala followed, though winced when she heard a crash and a childish grunt, followed quickly by a warning beep.

"Now, get bigger and press this switch here. Just stay on it until Link comes through."

The cat complied, and burst into her fighting form. She jumped forward, and reached down to press her black paw down on the blue switch. The bars shot into the ceiling just as another hit struck the child.

"Link, now!"

In the moment it took for the boy to turn and place his hand on the door, the beast struck, sending him flying through the door with a shout. Without prompting Kilala released the switch, bringing back the bars and sealing the door again, effectively blocking the beast from following. The tiny fighter panted, and struggled to his feet as the keese spotted him. Kilala jumped and bit into each one, letting them fall dead to the ground. Kilala landed again, and trotted up to the boy as he doubled over, and panted as his heart beeped dangerously.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Navi suggested gently. "We really need to find you some hearts.

Kilala crooned softly in worry, and Link sent her a small smile in reassurance. He straightened, and looked around to find the best way out. There were three ways he could go, but one of them was too high for him to reach, so that left the other two. He chose the one with the visible door. A shame it did not go anywhere.

"What the heck?" Navi got closer to examine the white ramp in their way. "What the heck is this?"

It was a very steep incline that was bone white and hard like rock. Link knocked at it once before figuring that whatever it was would not move for him.

"Well, guess it can't be helped," Navi sighed. "Let's try the other way. Hopefully we can find another way out and meet up with everyone." She flitted nervously beside his head. "I like the idea of asking those guys for help as much as you, but there is no way you can face that thing on your own."

o_o_o_o_o_o

"Take this!" The little fox cried from the air, and reached into the sack for the items, and swept his short arm across to toss them from his palm. "Raining bombs!"

The attack sailed for the enemy, a barrage of round and lit bombs flying down from the air. The enemy was a giant lizard with armor and a long dagger that cried out once before it tried to jump out of the way. One bomb struck it in the head before it got far, and led way for the onslaught. Small explosions and bursts of gunpowder surrounded the monster, destroying it on impact, and bursting into flame. Shippou landed on his platform, and looked to his find proudly.

"Looks like these things are useful after all," he mused smugly, and tucked the sack into the pockets in his kimono before looking around in confusion. "Um, guys, where are we?" Shippou had to ask.

The others looked around uncertainly at their surroundings. They were on platforms along a pool of magma, with one stone structure reaching out like a bridge past the edge of the lava fall. Hot smoke and steam made a partially opaque floor, though no one was foolish enough to test its hardness. Kagome looped her bow on her shoulder and took the map back out, and the others crowded around it to examine the parchment.

"We should have met up with InuYasha by now," Kagome mused.

"Maybe it's through that door there?" Sango suggested, pointing at the door they had not gone through.

"But, the room looks odd," Miroku pointed out, "Even the entrances are in the wrong place."

The entrances he referred to were the doorway they had come through, and one that was cattycorner to it. The group was facing both doors at the moment, but they still did not seem to match up with the map.

"Maybe we should go back," Sango suggested. "I don't want to risk us becoming more lost because of a faulty map."

"Yeah, maybe we should make marks as we go," Kagome agreed. "At least so we can travel without getting too lost." She sighed softly. "I wish Navi was here. She'd probably pop up a screen and make this easier to read."

The others nodded, saying nothing but agreeing wholeheartedly.

"Man, this place is confusing," Navi muttered as she popped back up, with Link close in tow, "We need a bloody map of this place. It's a miracle we're not lost yet."

The new room they had managed to work their way in was another simple square room that also had a treasure chest. This time the container was much larger, and was also empty. The boy wiggled out of the hole of the tunnel they had found and been traveling in, and Kilala leapt back out, preferring to stay in her larger form to be ready at a moment's notice.

"Probably wouldn't do much good," Navi contended, "Since the Gorons weren't the ones to make the tunnels, we'd probably still not know where we are. At least the monster is still somewhat damaged, so we don't have to worry about more attacks."

Completely healed Link silently agreed, and shook off the dirt before readjusting his belt and examining the room in more detail. Even without the telltale hole, it would have been obvious something happened in here. Dirt splayed over the floor, and the door had already been blown to pieces from the inside, from the looks of the rubble just outside of the threshold. Kilala remained directly beside him as they passed the doorway, even as he went straight for the giant stone stepping stairs inviting him up. He accepted the invitation, since it was farther from the ground. So he climbed up, hoisting his body up each and every step until he reached the top, and turned to run up the rickety wood ramp. He reached the end of the ramp, which circled back around to the back of the room. He approached the door, and placed his hand on the iron. The entrance opened just as InuYasha hit the bars with Tessaiga.

Link shouted and jumped back, tripping over his feet and landing flat on his rear. His hand flew to his pounding heart as his eyes were wide and terrified.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing, dog-breath!" Navi shrieked, trying to get her own heart to quell.

"Link?" Came the confused call from inside. There was a flare, then the singing of metal as he presumably sheathed his sword. "Annoying gnat, is that you? What are you doing here? And why is only Kilala with you? Where are Sango and Miroku?"

"We had a little mix-up and got separated from them," Navi called back, "but we managed to find a way up. You got yourself stuck? Where's Kagome and Shippou?"

"I'm not stuck, damn it, I'm trapped. There's a difference. They're looking for you guys, last I heard. How'd you get separated?"

"Tell ya later," The fairy sighed and flittered about. "Did you beat all of the monsters in there?"

"Yeah, I killed all the stupid statues in here. Pain in the neck."

"Must be another mechanism. Well, this is definitely a pickle. Now we have to get the bonehead out."

"I heard that!"

Link turned to Kilala and lightly touched her head before looking pointedly to the door. The cat growled low, and seemed to hesitate, making Link wonder about the pause, before erupting into flame. Link was not even phased by the fire and followed the gaze of the little kitten looking expectantly to Navi.

"Yeah, I gotcha," she sighed and hovered down to the cat. "All right, let's get this over with."

The boy placed his hand on the door to open it again, and the fairy and kitten darted through to get inside. Link stood patiently, waiting for the signal of the opened room, but the first thing he heard was definitely not a signal.

"It's… yellow." There was a stunned silence before Navi called over, "Hey, InuYasha… did you even _try_ the switch before?"

The voice that answered back was defensive. And just a little edgy with embarrassment. "Keh, how was I supposed to know that was for the doors? Last I checked it wasn't normal to leave an easy means for the prisoners to escape. What kind of set up is that?"

This time, the fairy burst out laughing as the kokiri's jaw dropped.

"Shut up!" he barked.

But the situation was too much. "Oh- oh man!" Navi gasped, and Link closed his mouth to keep away temptation to snicker. "You- you got stumped- A switch!" The boy bit his lip and quickly replaced it with his fist. Navi cried in joy through her braying. "Of all the things, a switch!"

"You done yet?" The half demon barked. "We have better things to do!"

Kilala hopped her whole body onto the switch, but she was apparently still too light. After fidgeting a few moments, she erupted into flame to activate the pressure, and the bars retreated at the signal. InuYasha promptly turned around, and stormed out the door they had come, coming face to face with Link. By now his face was almost completely red, with his eyes flashing angrily. The boy's face was also red, but his eyes watered with laughter, and he could not stop grinning under his hand. Link was a smart boy. He already knew just looking at InuYasha would make his snickers worse, so he did the only logical thing he could do.

He turned and ran like hell. Navi was quick to follow.

"Hey!" Came the shout as he tore off after them. "Don't even think about telling the others, got it? Especially Shippou!"

That did not help their predicament. Link jumped down from the ramp when he reached to middle, and immediately turned to run out the second door, the one they had not come through. He went right for the little platform between the ledge and big platform, and jumped to the center without looking. Apparently, the turning pillar from before had been replaced somehow when they were gone. He saw it only when he got to the edge and had been running for it. He drew his sword to kill it before it spotted him, and struck it. It clanged loudly on impact, and he remembered it was made from stone a little too late. Aw crap. He turned to run, though the eye spotted him. It blinked when it was about to unleash its wrath, but Tessaiga took off its head before it unleashed the beam. The eye lopped off the perch, and exploded in midair. The body rolled from the force of the swing, and also burst from stored gunpowder. Link stopped and turned to see InuYasha sheath his sword again.

"Oi, you okay?" the fighter asked.

Link nodded, but turned his attention over the fighter's shoulder to see Kilala just coming out of the room, and carefully hopping over the platform. Strange, why was she moving so slowly? Oh no, had she hurt herself from earlier?

"InuYasha, is that you?" Came Kagome's voice.

"InuYasha, you got out!" Shippou realized as the group came through the door.

"Link!" Kagome cried gleefully when she saw him.

"Thank goodness you're all right." Sango agreed as she and Miroku jumped down to reach the center room.

"How did the two of you manage to escape?" Miroku asked.

"We followed the tunnels back to the surface," Navi explained quickly. A hint of smug amusement edged through. "We managed to help InuYasha escape."

The reminder made Link press his lips together, even as they looked curiously at the boy. His amusement vanished instantly into utter bamboozlement when he saw Kagome being carefully lowered down the center by a giant white bird with big eyes, a large yellow beak, and webbed yellow feet. In the moment the girl's feet touched the floor, his shock only increased when he saw the bird explode in a cloud of smoke to reveal Shippou.

"Did you help him, Link?" Kagome asked, a little impressed.

The boy was in a daze, and had not heard her right away. Navi jingled to remind him, and finally shook his head, and pointed at Kilala, still not looking away from the fox strutting up to him.

"I directed her," Navi clarified, "but she was the one that could slip through the bars. She's pretty useful to have around."

"Thank you, Kilala," Sango murmured, and reached out to pet her as she came up beside her, "As well as for keeping Link safe." The woman frowned a moment as she looked to her and bent over to look to her face. "Kilala? Is something wrong?"

The boy finally looked away from the mysterious kitsune, and shuffled on his feet, feeling a little guiltier for Kilala hurting herself at his expense.

"Hey Link, look what I found," Shippou said proudly, and brought out a small bag from his kimono, "there are bombs in here!"

"Really?" Navi flitted over to see for herself as the kitsune opened the bag. "Huh, so there is. How about handing it over?"

"No way," The fox held it away from her. "I found it first. Besides, Link can already pluck bomb flowers with the bracelet, why should he need these too?"

"Now, now," Kagome scolded. "Be nice, Shippou."

The boy had to agree with the fox. Finders keepers, after all. Blast, would have been nice.

"Oh, fine," the guide huffed. "I'm just glad we met up with you guys in this crazy place. I just wish we had a map to follow, would make this a bit easier."

"Um," Kagome raised her hand, "We found one, but it doesn't do much good. We were hoping you could take a look at it. We almost got lost because of it."

"Really? Well, at least you found it; we'll see what we can do. Okay Link, you're up." She flittered over to Kagome to explain, "I'm not much of a map reader, but he's pretty good with them."

The boy nodded, walking up to the girl as she unrolled it and lowered it to his level. He studied it, and then looked up to scrutinize the room a moment before looking back to the parchment. He put one finger on one of the bridges of the map, then seemed to scan the room and pointed to a corner. He followed the bridge with his finger, before looking at the map, and frowning before dropping his hand. He looked back to the entrance where they had first entered the mines, then look back to the map, his brow furrowing in concentration, then scratching his head in confusion. A stray glance up reminded him of the giant skull gleaming down at the group. He looked from the skull, to the map, back up to the skull, then to the door that he, Navi, Kilala, and InuYasha had just run out of. He promptly slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Everyone stared in confusion as the little kokiri doubled over, and shook with suppressed hilarity. The others wondered to themselves if the poor boy cracked. Still hunched over and trying not to laugh his head off, he reached up to the map in Kagome's hands, grabbed the top, and turned it one hundred eighty degrees. As soon as he did, Navi joined him, though was more vocal in her merriment.

"You had it upside down!" The pair looked like they were about to fall to the ground. Navi was still tired from her last laughing bout, so was not as loud as before, though her chortles still rang loud and clear in the mine space. "It's not just InuYasha, you're _all_ hopeless! Oh Kilala," she gasped and hovered near the red eyes of the giant cat. "I take it all back- you're probably the smartest out of everyone. I'm _so_ glad we got you as a partner!"

Not quite catching the insult to her friends, Kilala growl-meowed at the compliment as everyone else looked more than a little embarrassed.

"Um," Kagome shyly handed the map to the boy, a little pink in the cheeks, "Why don't you hold onto this then, Link?"

The boy nodded, and took the map, though still could not stop his giggles, and stood there a few seconds trying to stop, though not succeeding well.

"It's not _that_ funny," Shippou murmured.

"Oh, are you kidding? This is hilarious," Navi was all but gloating. "Who were the ones saying _we_ should be careful, but then got themselves lost and stuck? We managed to navigate a whole tunnel system, _and_ get ourselves out of trouble better than you did. I think _someone_ deserves an apology," she stated airily and flew back over to the hinted boy's shoulder. "Right, Link?"

The kokiri shook his head to try to assure them, even when his giggles would not stop, and he tried to spit his words out through his hand. "Ihit's mean tohoohoo laugh," he tried to explain. "But it's," his sentence broke into unintelligible snickers when he saw them all again.

"I know," Miroku sighed. "It's funny when the people who are the most sure of themselves are the ones who need the help."

Link nodded, and the others still seemed a bit uncomfortable with the admittance, though they could not deny the truth.

"Its fine, I understand," the monk sighed again, though this time a little more dramatically. "I probably would have done the same, if I were in your shoes. Really though, I would rather you laugh out loud instead of hurting yourself holding it in," he shrugged lightly. "Even if it as at our stupidity."

"Speak for yourself, monk," InuYasha retorted.

The unexpected remark surprised a few more sniggers out of Link, and this time he let his hand down to let them free.

"Miroku?" Sango whispered in confusion. She knew he was an understanding individual, but to give someone permission to laugh at him?

The monk smiled confidingly in her. "Really, Sango, when do you think was the last time he was this talkative?"

And then she remembered the only time the kokiri had spoken in these mines, and connected the dots. "Oh…"

"Laughter eases tension. What better way to gain his trust than to let him know we aren't to be feared?"

Though the boy had not heard the whispered conversation, it was still like a queue. His giggles finally slowed, and he glanced around apologetically, his grin a bit guilty, but not going away until his mirth died down. "Sohorry abouhout that."

"Oh it's fine," Kagome waved off. "I laugh at us all the time." Apparently, she had heard part of the conversation. And since she was rather fond of the boy, she could not help but jump at the chance to help. She grinned and winked at him. "You should see us on our days off, then we're hilarious."

His eyes were bright and clear, and coupled with his wide grin, had a look that said: "You're pretty silly, but I like that about you." Link finally managed to calm a bit, and Navi rested tiredly on his shoulder. The boy wiped at his aching face, which now had tears from excitement, and focused on the task at hand. He was quiet a moment, before pointing to the skull.

"That way, huh?" Navi wondered. "Oh, that was the room we were in before, huh? The door must be behind there."

"Even I could've guessed that," Shippou muttered.

Sango looked curiously. "But, why would there be a door sealed by a skull? What are they keeping in there?"

Link's expression turned somber, and Navi found her breath before flying up again.

"Listen, guys, when we were in the tunnels under here, we found what's been shaking the mountain. It's not pretty."

"So you _did_ find it?" The demon slayer asked with wide eyes. Both the boy and his navigator could suddenly feel the tension of every pair of eyes on them. "How did you get out?" Sango had to ask. "You didn't fight it, did you?"

"He couldn't have, if he looks fine," InuYasha pointed out. "Probably caught a glimpse of it."

"No, we did fight it," Navi assured. "It was pretty scary, Link almost didn't make it. If it wasn't for Kilala, he would have been done for. But thankfully we got away and found some hearts before we found you. At first I thought that thing was a Dodongo, it was sure walking like one, but the head is all wrong. I've never seen anything like it. It was so bad we had to pull back, there were too many of them to hold off."

"Is that what's wrong, Kilala?" she asked her friend. "Where you hurt?" The demon cat let out her growling whine, and looked up at her. "Maybe you should stay here while we fight." The cat growled more assertively and nudged her middle. "But, you shouldn't strain yourself too much." The giant two tails flicked behind her in agitation, and pulled back her upper lip into a snarl. Sango debated with herself a moment, before finally raising her hand and petting her head. "Well, if you're sure."

Miroku frowned as he turned his attention to Navi. "Is there more than one?"

The fairy and Kokiri looked to each other. "It's a little hard to explain. We'll have to get through the door so you can see for yourself."

"Guess it can't be helped," InuYasha took his decisive steps to the giant white skull. "Wouldn't be the first time we had to go grave robbing."

Navi jingled, a bit stricken. "Do I even want to know?"

"Don't worry too much about it," Kagome assured. "Tell you later."

The impatient fighter had already hopped onto the skull's nose, and wedged his hands between the two lips of the mouth. Everyone watched as the hand slowly pried at the bone snout. He clenched his jaw, and pulled his lips into a snarl as his muscles strained against the resistance. The mouth slowly creaked open under the pull, and the lower jaw widened under pressure. With a quick swing to plant his feet on the low jaw, the fighter put the effort of both leg and arm muscles to lengthen his body and pull the mouth further apart. With a crack, the mechanisms of the seal snapped, and the jaw plopped to floor. InuYasha landed in a crouch before straightening, the tension visibly relieved, since his bruised ego had been assuaged, just a bit.

"All right, it's open, let's go."

There were two more fire keeses when they entered the room again.

"Man those things are everywhere," Navi complained. "Come on, let's get the weight."

"Weight?" Kagome inquired.

"That block up there." Navi clarified. "To open the door, we need something to stay on the blue switch down there, otherwise the bars will shut on us. That's why that block is up there."

"You said you need a weight?" Shippou piped up. "It can be anything, right?"

Link nodded once, and the kitsune puffed out his chest.

"Leave it to me," he announced, and reached into his tiny kimono folds to pull out a small item. "This should do the trick."

"Um," Navi inspected it, not even bothering to turn green as she saw it. It was a tiny stone sculpture, dark gray in color, and narrow. "It's gotta be a bit bigger than that."

"Trust me on this," Shippou assured, and winked. "This'll help us out no problem."

"Well," the fairy and boy looked to each other, before shrugging. Heck, things from their world seemed to have an affinity with growing bigger than their original size. "If you say so. Not like we have anything to lose by trying."

Link hopped down the ledge to lead the little fox to the inlaid stone border with the switch. He drew out his slingshot, and fired at the two keese before they approached.

"Well, if you're sure that thing will work," Navi said, "then let 'er rip."

The kitsune took that as his queue to jump, and Link moved to get the heck out of the way. The fox threw down the little doll. It popped into smoke before growing to about Shippou's height, and landed in the square hole. It was a little person from the looks of it. The head was round, and the body was just a little wider than the head and long and cylindrical. The monotony of the dark gray was broken by a bright red scarf around the thick neck. The little demon landed next to the statue and followed up with a talisman to slap on the jizo statue's forehead, and the switch flattened under the weight. The bars slid instantly back into the ceiling.

"Done," Shippou announced. He looked around expectantly, and saw that there was no extra metal on the door barring their exit. "Piece of cake." He laced his hands behind his head.

"Huh." Navi examined the odd thing for a moment. "I guess that statue thing of yours really works."

"It's not just a "statue", its Jizo, the god of children. Show some respect," he huffed, even as he marched to the door.

The door opened without a hitch, letting everyone enter the room Link, Navi, and Kilala had been trapped in before. The black stone that made up the walls still seemed to glow red with magma, and still made the place almost unbearably hot. Link was careful to walk around the crumbling center so he could get to the treasure chest on the other side of the room. He kicked it open, and found bombs.

"Hey cool, can I see?" Shippou followed him over, and picked them up. "Perfect, I had used a couple of them before anyway."

"Blast," Navi muttered as Link had to give room to Shippou. "I still say you should get that thing."

The others had taken a peek over the edge of the hole into the recesses below. Save for the bubbling of magma, and the edge of a light colored path encircling the magma, saw nothing but heavy dark rubble littering the dirt.

"I don't see anything," Kagome admitted.

"Trust us, it's down there," Navi assured. "Ready, Link?"

As an answer, the boy jumped over the edge. Kilala automatically followed.

"He always rushes into everything," Sango murmured in exasperation as she did the same.

"Again, the similarities to a certain friend of ours are rather striking," Miroku teased as he jumped after.

InuYasha just huffed as he put one protective arm around Kagome's waist and joined the others.

"Hey!" Shippou called out in indignation, closed his bag, and leaped after them. "Don't leave me behind!"

* * *

I know, I know, you all hate me for this, but I wanted to get this out of the way first, since the fight is obviously going to take a lot longer to write, and I figured I should give you guys something to go on before then. Look on the bright side, one whole chapter dedicated to super awesomely cool nonstop fighting!

So, life has been life and I got wrapped up, but I also started working on a project introduced to me by a friend of mine (actually, my designated beta for Actuate) and I was working on that too. You should definitely check it out, its a lot of fun. It's called Across the Fandom, and it is basically a bunch of writers getting together and bringing a collection of writings to one story. We are going to try to write every possible pairing in the LoZ universe, and bring it together to see how different people interpret romance. Or just relationships in general.

.net/s/7000715/1/Across_the_Fandom

Here's a hint, mine is the longest. ;P Not on purpose though. You know I don't usually say this for a story, but read and review, people! All the authors on here love to hear what people think of their stories. (Quick note: Review the chapter with the story you liked, instead of just reviewing at the end, as per usual. We can reply to the reviews, and chances are, people will be happy to tell you how they appreciate your feedback.) Plus, we need higher numbers to bring in more people!

So, like I said, next chapter will be awesome and everything, and hopefully not what you expect. I like to keep people guessing.


	12. Corrupted Dinosaur

You know what I do every time I get a review? I laugh. Because I love the fact that everyone is totally on Link's side for this, which is hilarious. I mean, is no one gonna bash me and say I'm making everyone really mean or something? Where are all those really loyal IY fans out there?

Also, guys, I want to point out: he thinks he has to fight InuYasha for Sango's attention and that the demon is after his blood. When you consider that, do you realize how slanted his perception of everyone is? By this chapter and next I'll make it all more clear... of course you'll still be on Link's side when you learn a few things about him, and probably feel even more sorry for him, but that's beside the point I'm trying to make here, lol.

And, I do want to say this: I appreciate how people want to help by giving suggestions, but it's not very useful. One, I already know how I want things to go, and two, even if I didn't, my writing has a mind of its own. Not kidding, everything has already come out a lot differently than I anticipated. Even if I try to incorporate suggestions, chances are, they'll either change, or come out at different times. So, you can keep giving suggestions if you want, but I tell you now that the chances of them actually being used are slim to none. My writing won't use my own suggestions, how can I get it to use someone else's? XD

Okay, I'm going to share just how much I love you guys… and how much I really need a life. I've made a playlist for this chapter. That's right, you saw that right. Go to youtube, search "animenuthead", but filter playlist. The one you're looking for is called "Dodongo Battle PL", it should be under my "recent activities." If not, then just search for playlists. Click on it, and hold it, because for some reason, it starts on the second video. Make sure it's on the first, the one that says "metal cover". Once you read the words "Corrupted Dinosaur: Demon Dodongo", that's the start of the list. Hopefully, it will follow along the chapter well enough. Though I'm not sure if it's just my computer or what, but it seems to keep stopping… whatever, just make sure it plays. :D

That being said, let's get this going!

* * *

Considering all of the strange things everyone had seen in the world so far, it really was not that much of a surprise to have gravity affected as well. Every jumper fell at a normal rate from the square opening in the ceiling, but slowed near the last few moments of their descent. The temporary Dodongo slayers landed with little more than a few soft thuds on the ground. They blinked and surveyed their surroundings. To their right was a huge quadrilateral indent in the floor with blackened rocks. The snaking cracks wove like veins through the indented floor, and glowed red hot, and tinted everything orange in the light.

"What happened here?" Kagome could not help but ask.

"Looks like our mystery beast ran rampant," Sango said, "just like we guessed was happening with the mountain quakes."

Everything was broken. Each of the four walls surround them had been cratered and cracked so much that the corners were no longer existent, making it just one large, rounded cavern. The walls had been decimated, and the pieces littered the floor around them. Broken rubble ranged from little pebbles to gigantic boulders that were over four persons tall. The pieces created a makeshift maze of passages among the rubble the travelers were forced to navigate in order to move through the space. They took a few hesitant steps in the quiet to start to work their way through the jagged pieces, though were careful to remain together.

Shippou jumped up onto a rock, and turned to look to his left. Several tunnels had been burrowed into the walls. Each tunnel gaped with their wide soil maws and the kitsune stared a moment into the yawning darkness. The opening was enormous compared to his small body, but the size did not intimidate him so much as the sensation he got as he stared into it. That deep within the well of darkness laid a beast peering at him just as intently. He gulped and turned away to catch up with the others.

Link hoisted himself up onto a stone for better vantage, and he and Navi scanned the room over everyone's heads for the beast they knew to be lurking somewhere in here. Yet the massive piles of rock seemed to be perfect enough camouflage, since there did not seem to be a hint of it. With a bit of suspicion and past experience, Link raised his eyes to the ceiling, and froze when he spotted what he was looking for. Within one of the tunnels, a giant yellow eye with a red iris leered down at him. Four purple points curled like claws around the eye. The eye blinked once, the thick violet eyelids closing horizontally. He drew his sword, unhooked his shield, and went into a defensive stance, and the others noticed instantly.

"What is it?" Sango asked, though she raised her eyes as well. "Above us!" she warned.

"No, behind us!" Kagome pointed to another peering from a tunnel in the back wall.

"We're surrounded!" Shippou realized.

"No!" Navi corrected as she and Link realized the truth. "It's right in front of us!"

The cavern rumbled from a shift, and every fighter turned to the sound of sliding rock. The four claw-like points closed over the eyes with a metallic clink to make a blunted point, before retreating into the shadows of each tunnel. A rock heap near the edge of the cavern shook and swayed. Each piece of debris jumped from the surface and clattered to the floor as a wholly different shape unearthed. From the bottom of the pile swung out a bulky stump that pounded into the floor. One from the other side emerged, and landed just as hard as the first. The final two stumps pounded into the floor, and then all four legs straightened into the muscle pillars they really were. The hefty and tapered tail uncurled to whip out behind the body, giving everyone a clear view of the mammoth hindquarters with leathery skin. Each strike of the bulky legs sent tremors through the cavern as it turned to face them and finally allow a better look. Sickly pale violet gleamed over the massive monster's back in alien scales overlapping down the beast's spine, but they stopped before reaching the belly. As the others saw the profile, they noticed long snake-like appendages almost dragging back from tunnels in the corner the monster had laid. When the stomps finally let the beast face the fighters, they saw the almost triangular jaw line covered in leathery brown skin. However, purple scales overlapped over the top half of the head, just above its nose in a crude helmet, not even allowing normal eyes any visibility. It grunted heavily in the echoes of the cavern as the snake-like appendages finally emerged from the tunnels, and rose to spread over the beast's head. Four trunks of muscle and armor swayed above the reptile, coiling higher and higher until they unfurled completely to tower their blunt points to the top of the cavern. The four points turned to the group before they broke in a cross split, and clinked open to let all four eyes peer down at them. The beast took in a deeper breath, just as the four eyes let out a shattering shriek. The beast roared over the white words: "Corrupted Dinosaur: Demon Dodongo".

Then every single eye honed in on Link, and resealed the scales before they reached out to slam down on him.

Tetsaiga erupted into fire as the wielder catapulted in front of the surprised boy. One of the demon limbs slammed onto the Tetsaiga, and InuYasha strained against, it, holding the blade above his head with both hands to keep it aloft. The other three limbs merely slammed on the rocks around them, since they were too wide to attack at the same time.

"So this is what's been shaking up the mountain, huh?" He ground out.

Navi jingled worried. "This was why we couldn't beat it before! There's too many and they all go after him at once!"

"Heh, now this is more like it," the half-demon's lips pulled back into a cocky grin. "Let's see if we can divide and CONQUER!"

He shoved the limb back, and launched between the space to begin the battle.

"Kilala!"

The demon cat leaped and paused for a second for Sango to mount her, and then cannoned into the air. The two bounded up for the other appendages as InuYasha stayed low from the other side. The gargantuan beast marched slowly forward with the limbs whipping, despite no visible eyes directing them. The two outside limbs focused on the two approaching fighters with surprising accuracy. Kilala had already done battle with this monster and went into familiar evasive maneuvers for the erratic pattern. Hiraikotsu swung to the side and Sango arched her back, before hurling her arm forward and screaming the launch of her weapon. The boomerang whirred through the air but clanged into the stem with a dull thunk and bounced onto the floor. Both she and Kilala gaped in shock.

"How is that possible?" She demanded, just before the stem lashed at them and Kilala jumped to the side.

InuYasha never held still and jumped from boulder to boulder, keeping one step ahead of the demon that tried to impale him. Nearly each rock he abandoned exploded from impact in a shower of gravel nearly a second after he left it. After deeming it far enough away from the others to be distracted, he remained one second longer on a stone, and rocketed above the coil that nearly caught him.

"Eat my Tetsaiga!" He barked, and swung down onto the scales.

Sparks flew from the ringing impact, just before the coil bucked and whipped back to send him flying. The fighter arced through the air and landed into a crouch on the wall.

"Damn," he growled in frustration, before jumping again to avoid the whip plowing into the wall.

Down below, the two innermost snake-like limbs were giving the ones on foot more than a little trouble. Both had honed in on the group of Kagome, Miroku, and Shippou gathered below. The three had already seen what had happened to Sango and InuYasha's attempts, and knew their own strength would do no good head on against the powerful lashes. They turned and ran, side stepping boulders and jumping over rocks to try to get out of range before they were hit, but their chase was made even harder by the fact that the dinosaur that supported the limbs was still on a march for them, keeping the limbs just a bit closer each time.

Each of the appendages were finally distracted, allowing Link and Navi a clear view for the first time, and they gasped when they realized there was a trait they had not noticed before. From behind the crown of the scale helmet unfurled a tiny appendage, this one green. The stem was narrow and green, with a green globe for a head. The lids opened horizontally, and the fifth eye darted around all of the fighters, and kept them in sight, most likely to direct the limbs lashing seemingly at random. It snapped to the watching pair. The boy shoved down the spike of fear and met its gaze and brought out his slingshot. Navi zoomed to the appendage, and Link fired at the eye. It flashed red, and curled in on itself, and closed in pain.

The rest of the limbs opened their scales in order to compensate, and the others took the opportunity. InuYasha slashed down with Tetsaiga upon the eyeball after him, and Sango drew her small sword to slash at the one going for her, just before Kilala made a mad dash for the fallen boomerang. Link jumped from his boulder, hopping until he was in front of the Dodongo and jumped for Kagome, Shippou and Miroku. The two innermost limbs disregarded their chase and had curled inward to spot the pair that had taken out the fifth eye. The fairy rushed forward without prompting, and Link fired through the yellow target to stun the first limb. It reared back with a shriek and snapped up from impact. The second limb rushed faster than Navi could switch, but the Hiraikotsu whirred into the scales and jarred the demon's path. It turned at the distraction, giving Link enough leeway to fire with his slingshot. The yellow ball turned red and snapped back much like the other limbs before crashing into the rocks on the floor.

From the row of four squares across the shoulders of the Dodongo, the base of each limb activated the organic mechanisms of the demon, and retracted the appendages by each row of scales. Then the four claw scales clinked shut, and all the limbs simultaneously dragged across the floor, subsequently budging the rubble along the floor. The steady clanks steadily grew higher in pitch as the trunks of the limbs shrunk the closer they got to the tips. Link and Navi looked at each other in proud relief as they reunited. That was one part taken care of, at least.

"LINK!" Kagome called in panic.

"WATCH OUT!" Shippou cried.

Time stretched in the next few moments for the boy, as though his mind had sped up to slow everything else down. The kokiri and fairy turned their relieved gazes from each other to suspicious surveys behind them. The lizard's gargantuan jaws were so wide it showed off the red ridges of the roof of its mouth, and the hot pink of its tongue. It lifted its head slightly, bringing up the bottom jaw a little more and accentuating the single row of dagger teeth, as it inhaled deeply. As a yellow spark crackled from the dark depths of the thick, meaty throat, Link spun around. Navi dove into his hat to be sure she would stay with him. His short legs did not pump fast enough, but he strained against time to sprint as fast as his body could take him in the maze of rock surrounding him. He saw the three from so far away reached out to him and ran for him, but could not hear what they were saying. He only realized it was because the roar of fire drowned out everything else.

Pain brought time back into perspective. His own jaws stretched like the dragon's, but it was only screams that ripped from his own throat. The geyser of swirling fire captured him completely and sent him flying forward. The walls brushed against his skin and ripped at his clothes to attack him, even when the fire breath died down. He skidded to a rough landing almost two meters from where he was standing before, tripping over a rock about knee-height. Leftover flames licked his sleeves and scorched his skin, and he scrambled up to his feet even as he blindly stumbled and tried to slap out the flames. He was distantly aware of a rumble, and he saw Kagome and Shippou dive for the side, just as Miroku grabbed around his middle and launched them both to the side and against a farther rock, narrowly avoiding a new attack. The floor shook from the dragon mountain rollout cutting through the debris.

"Are you all right?" Miroku asked breathlessly. "Link, say something!"

"Yeah," Navi zipped out of Link's hat, her voice even higher because of the near heart attack she just had. "He'll be okay. Just a little shaken. He's not even beeping, so the damage isn't that bad."

"Link, your arms!" Kagome popped out from behind another rock, and fell to her knees in front of him.

The boy looked to his body, and was just grateful the fire was out, but the bright red along his skin did not look good. It was on his legs too, making it almost painful to lie down like he was now. Though he could already tell from the darker pink and the different kind of sting that one wound was from the scrape against the rock. At least the shield had protected most of his back.

"Unfortunately, we have nothing to cool you with," Miroku frowned as he looked out past where the Dodongo was. "You'll just have to try not to agitate your injuries any further."

Navi jingled irritably as Link looked up to him pleadingly. "Oh, _hell_ no, we're not just staying here! We have a score to settle with that thing!"

"We're playing with _fire_, here," Miroku retorted back. "That call was far too close. If Link didn't have his shield, he would have suffered a lot more damage."

The boy shook his head and pushed away to stand. "No way," his fairy answered for him. "We can still fight-"

"Stop being so reckless!"

The pair jumped, because it was Kagome that has spoken. They stared at her in stunned surprise. Her doe brown eyes looked to him pleadingly through her tears.

"Please. You're in no condition to fight. We almost _lost_ you."

It felt like a betrayal. Both Miroku and Kagome had been trying so hard to give him support in the past. Of all the people he thought that would encourage him to wait, he never thought it would be these two. Yet her eyes actually made him feel guilty, as though _he_ had done something wrong. He cast his eyes down in surrender.

"Miroku, Kagome!" Sango called, for the Dodongo had stopped rolling, and as it unfurled, the four limbs rose again. "We're going to need a little help here!"

Everyone tensed when they saw the form of the beast rising over the rocks. So it was just a temporary reprieve they could ask for, then.

"Shippou," Miroku said as he and Kagome stood. "You and I are going to have to help distract that thing while Kagome goes for the eye."

"What? Why me?" Shippou cried. "I can't fight that thing!"

"Because at this moment, we need the use of your fox magic illusions. Link, Navi," he turned to the pair. "You have a good eye. Thanks to you, we know where better to attack. Consider your contribution well enough to suffice. Everyone else, let's go!"

The three ran out of the rubble and sprinted down the newly cleared path the Dodongo had left behind. Well, two ran out first. Shippou was frozen in terror of where he was willingly going, before he finally went forward with a desperate battle cry. Link did not run after, but watched sullenly. Before the three could arrive, two limbs focused to InuYasha on the floor, and two went for Sango and Kilala in the air.

The half demon had managed to jump within the maze to get closer to the Dodongo, and swung back his blade. When he released the strike it sliced into the dodongo's rock-like leather skin. It sparked and clanged like metal, but still cleaved the skin and released a spray of blood along its enormous ribcage. Along with the expected roar from the dragon, the weaving lashes of armor caught him in his momentary pause, and swatted him away from the side. While he flipped in midair, the second limb slammed him against the broken wall.

On the other side, Sango took to keeping a hold of Hiraikotsu and using it to bash away the oncoming enemies Kilala could not dodge. Slowly, that became an increasing number. The demon cat's jumps slowed, though the experienced slayer could only tell because she was used to Kilala's usual reaction time. This was not reassuring in the least. Especially when InuYasha's attacked threw the Dodongo into a spiraling frenzy that made the limbs even wilder.

"Kilala," Sango called. "Take us to the ground; we'll take him on foot!"

And then Sango and Kilala fell apart from a stray bash. Link gawked as both Kilala and Sango sailed in opposite directions.

"Sango!" Miroku called.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried.

"FOX FIRE!" Shippou screamed.

He shot his tiny palm out, and a spiral of teal-green flame corkscrewed wider and wider out of his hand until it reached the pebble-like scales. The tail lashed at the contact and the Dodongo roared and stomped around again to find the annoyance, its focus brought back to the fight.

Sango had managed to maneuver her body to at least land on her feet with Hiraikotsu's rope handle still tight in her grasp. The demon cat bounced on her back and flipped over to skid to a haphazard stop on the floor, so that the top of her head faced them.

"Something's wrong," Navi realized, just as Link ran out to the fallen two-tail.

"Kilala!" Sango called out in alarm, but the dive of a new limb forced her to jump back, and swing down her Hiraikotsu to keep it off.

The demon cat growled low in her throat as she rolled onto her feet, but pushing back up seemed to be a problem, and she collapsed with a whoosh of air and dust. Link arrived beside her, and put a questioning hand on her head. Navi turned green and flew around her body, trying to find any crippling injury, but not finding any blood.

"What's the matter?" The fairy asked her as she turned back to her normal color. The demon cat could only whine at her in response. "Come to think of it, you were acting a little oddly before we got in here too..."

The weight of the pouch on his belt reminded Link of an item, and he reached for the leather flap, but hesitated. Kilala was injured, but... what if someone was hurt even more in the battle? No, he had to wait, it was best to save these.

"Got it!" Came Kagome's shout.

Link and Navi looked up to see the fifth eye closing and ducking down for a temporary retreat. The rounded points of the armored snakes clinked and spread open to let the yellow eyes peer out at everyone. Normally this would be a good thing. Link and Navi stared with horror at Demon Dodongo's half countenance leering straight at them. The pair realized the problem with this, since they were familiar with the monsters in this world falling into a pattern.

"Once those things go down, it's going to roll right toward us!" Navi jingled. "We have to get Kilala out of the way!"

Link stood and frantically searched for an answer. Where could he get her to be out of the way? Most of the rocks were close together and only made narrow winding mazes. He spotted a space that looked big enough to hold the giant cat. The problem was that it was actually toward the monster, but it was all they had. He stepped around to her head, and wrapped his arms around her neck in an embrace, with his head and shoulder shoved against the inside of her throat. Planting his thick boots into the floor, he pushed against the floor, and slid the demon cat like a block.

In the battle, InuYasha diced an eyeball between the claw scales. The yellow flashed red before the armored trunk whipped back and thudded to the floor. Teal green flames of Shippou's Fox Fire burned another, and it curved and snapped away to slam into a pile of rocks. Kagome aimed her arrow, and Sango brought out her climbing hook to take care of the remaining two.

From the direction of the push, the feline body dragged the hind legs inward as though she was curling up for a nap. The gravel and sand on the floor helped her huge body roll along the ground as the boy planted one resolute foot in front of the other. He heaved and grunted the short way until she was finally in front of the space. He ran around to her front, and she rolled onto her feet again to try to crawl up into a stand. Navi turned around, and jingled when she saw what had happened for the others.

"WAIT!" She called desperately, but all four limbs were already down.

The others turned to see what had upset the fairy. Each faced turned to bewilderment. The boy had his shoulder against Kilala's shoulder, and the demon cat was leaning on him for leverage to push herself to her feet.

"What happened to Kilala?" Shippou asked.

The gasp of air from the dragon answered.

"Link!" Sango screamed. "Kilala can handle fire!"

But the boy did not listen, and the yellow glow from the dragon's meaty throat warned the humans to fly. InuYasha bounded forward, this time closer to save him. He halted just behind the boy, and threw up the sleeves of his robe around his body just as the red flames rushed past. The heat teased Link's burns cruelly, forcing his body to go rigid with spiked phantom pains. Link never released Kilala, and held his breath to keep from breathing in the sheer heat. Despite his terror, he knew InuYasha's ability to keep his body from burning. His trust was so strong that when the stream of fire ended, he did not stand in relief for a moment. Instead he took that as his queue to shove Kilala into the space. She plopped into the wider crevice, just as InuYasha heard the dragon rolling into its attack. Kilala reached out with her head, and bit Link's tunic to pull him across her body, and InuYasha dove in after them to avoid the Dodongo rolling past them.

InuYasha stuck his head out to watch the journey. The colossal beast spun down the path again, and even flew past the first starting point. It split through the rubble like water, sending a spray of earth on either side until it crashed into the cavern wall again. As the space shook mightily, the wall it slammed into cracked. Pieces of rock broke away and rained down on Demon Dodongo as it lost balance and toppled to the side.

"Is it gonna do that every time?" he growled out.

"Yes!" Navi yelled and zipped up around his ear. "Why do you think we were trying so hard to get Kilala out of danger, you dumb dog? He follows a pattern just like Queen Gohma. That thing would have squashed her!"

He switched his eyes from her to the green sprawled across the demon cat, and scowled just before he yelled. "So instead of explaining that to us, you go and risk your crazy neck for her sake. You're insane _and_ stupid!" He craned his neck outside of the space and looked down the flattened path to check the Dodongo's actions. "I guess you really _do_ belong with us."

The boy blinked and looked up at the back of the head of the brash fighter, wondering if he had heard right.

"Get to the others and let them know." He stood so he could sheath his sword. "I'll get Kilala to safety."

Link nodded and shimmied back to remove himself from Kilala. He patted between her ears with both gratitude, and encouraging comfort before he went past InuYasha out of the space to join the others.

"Navi," Miroku greeted, "is Kilala all right?"

"I honestly don't know," Navi admitted. "InuYasha will get her out of the way."

"Thank goodness." Sango looked where InuYasha had managed to hoist Kilala over his shoulders. He jumped from the space to find relative safety, and her eyes shone with worry and the scare of what had almost happened without her realizing it. "She's in no condition to fight. If something happened and we lost her I wouldn't..."

"Don't worry, Sango," Kagome put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She'll be safe now."

Link watched the distraught team members with a sort of curiosity. It was almost the same thing they had said about him, really. He had thought it was because they thought him incapable, but Kilala was more than strong, yet they said the same thing.

_You could have seriously been hurt_!

… Even being worried about his own well being.

"Look, guys," Navi cut in. "I don't know how it works in your world, but monsters here go in a pattern. What you just saw is what they'll do each time."

"Every time?" Sango clarified. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Guaranteed."

The monster had finally staggered to its feet on the far side of the room. It swayed until it became grounded, and the four thick whips slid out segment by segment as it stomped around through the debris to spot them again.

"Come on," Miroku called. "We have to get it to the other side and give InuYasha time to get Kilala out of the way."

In the 'almost-corner' of the rounded room, the group ran the opposite way along the pool of lava, and in turn, the beast changed its stomp to follow them and meet them on the other side.

"We've already lost one of our edges," Miroku reminded. "Shippou, how well can you keep up your illusions?"

"Uh, I don't think that long," Shippou admitted.

"Hello?" Navi screeched as she zipped to his face. "You have bombs, remember? If you won't let Link have them, at least use them!"

"I can't get close enough to use them!" Shippou argued back.

The group stopped, and the limbs honed in on them, before the scales closed.

"Link, Kagome," Miroku called. "One of you will have to go for the main eye. You're the only one with long range weapons."

"On it."

Kagome picked out one of the few remaining arrows from her quiver. With those things moving as fast as they did, it was no surprise she missed a few times. Link brought out his slingshot, and a nut, only to find he was clean out. He looked to his bag in horror. No, blast it, no! Of all the times- he should have been paying closer attention.

The others split up and ran forward, and Link followed close behind. He would have to be the one to distract a limb and let Kagome fire at the eye. One limb already honed in on the girl, and he ran forward to try to take the brunt. He had a shield, after all.

But the girl brought up her bow, and when the monster made contact, a pink light exploded. Link watched in amazement as the monster reared back from the light. There were black scorch spots on the armor, and the limb was stunned, hesitant to go near her again, and the girl drew her bow. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw multiple Shippous popping out of existence. He did a double take. There were many clones hopping and jumping around a flailing limb, though it ignored them for the most part to focus on the bigger targets. Which is what let one of the Shippous climb up on the limb, and leap off to jump above the dragon's body. He reached into the bomb bag.

"Raining bombs!" he yelled, and gunpowder rained down on the dragon before Kagome let go of the string.

Dodongo roared in frustration at the sensation while the fifth eye bounced from the multiple impacts. The lids finally closed before the stem burst, and the eye was finally blown off. The moment the points split to reveal the eyes, Kagome released her charged arrow, and one limb lashed up before the top half disintegrated, and it went down. Link brought out a Deku nut, and shot it at the second eye, before running forward, and leaping into an attack to slash with his sword. Sango swung her climbing hook again, and clawed at the eye. Instead of hitting the eyeball, it caught into the crevice of a scale. Not to be deterred, the demon slayer yanked the distracted thing down with several strong pulls to bring it close, since it had already been coming to inspect her. She drew her small sword, and drove the blade into the eye. The beast shrieked and reared back, bringing the demon slayer with it. It whipped, but she held on with admirable determination to try to take it out for good. Right until it finally lashed back to arc her through the air, and slam her back onto a boulder with a cry of pain.

"SANGO!" Miroku screamed.

Link's eyes drew to the sight of their own accord, and his horror spiked for her sake. She released the limb, and with shaky arms pushed against the boulder, until she managed to roll over and slide down the rock, and out of his field of vision. He prayed that she would be all right, even as his anger rose at the beast before him.

The limb after Miroku launched at the monk, and he jumped back to avoid the first strike despite his distraction, and instantly cried out in pain before yanking his foot away from the boiling hot rock. His sandal burned all the way through, leaving the flesh on his sole, and even up his ankle around the bottom half of his calves partially blackened. Damn, too careless. He still lunged forward and slashed with his staff to hit the eyeball, but his foot refused to cooperate, and he buckled right after the swing.

All the limbs clanked into their bundled positions again, and this time Kagome gathered her spiritual energy as the dragon gasped in air for its attack. She aimed for the head and let the arrow fly. It studded into the fleshy ridges of the roof of the mouth and the arrow halted the onslaught. The dragon reared back, the maw partially disintegrating with the arrow. It stomped around blindly, and the others nearby had to run back to get out of the way of the rampaging beast. The massive tail whipped boulders across the cavern, and rocks crashed into more boulders as it spun out of control again. Sango stepped back shakily until she came beside Miroku and hissed as she looked at the beast spinning haphazardly.

"So the few times we do seem to succeed sends him into frenzy," the demon slayer finally swore. "This thing is turning out to be a real pain in the butt."

"Indeed, seems to be a double edged sword," he said weakly, and the pain in his voice was obvious. He remained crouched behind a rock that was only about half of his height, though it was far enough away to be safe for now. "We certainly have our work cut out for us, don't we?"

She looked down to his foot, finally recognizing the smell of burnt flesh, and her eyes went wide. "Miroku, your leg!"

"I grew careless," Miroku admitted. "Not that I'm of much help right now anyway. In such a small space, my Windtunnel is too risky, as is InuYasha's Windscar and Backlash wave."

"Everyone get down!" warned the mentioned half demon.

In one of the higher tunnels burrowed in the broken walls of the cavern, Kilala lay sprawled on the surface, out of immediate harm's way. InuYasha jumped from the high tunnel, and drove his claws into his chest, piercing through the material into his skin. Everyone crouched down just as the fighter whipped his left arm out.

"BLADES OF _BLOOD_!"

The glinting crimson arcs whistled through the air to rain down on the dragon. Surrounding rocks burst into dust and the ground shook from the deadly rain. Link hit the dirt. The rampant Dodongo stopped spinning. The enormous dragon convulsed spastically with the rapid fire against the thick armor.

"Are you kidding me?" Navi jingled irritably. "Even this guy's _blood_ is dangerous? Give me a break!"

The half-demon fighter landed on the cleared path from the dragon's earlier charge. He drew the Tetsaiga in a familiar burst of yellow flame. Demon Dodongo turned to face him across the expanse of hot rock. The jaw was hanging open oddly, but the limbs still reared back, and focused on the demon threateningly. The good news was: there were only two left. The bad news: There were still two left. The Dodongo turned and began its march around the center to meet him, but the limbs were long enough to lash out at him immediately. With two decisive jumps he dodged both attempts to land on a higher boulder. He brought the Tetsaiga in front in a defensive stance.

"Hey! Get up to the tunnels and get out of here!" he barked. "I can take it from here!"

"Not a chance!" Kagome yelled back, and stood to lean over a rock so she had a better view. "We're not leaving you here!"

"You're gonna get killed if you stay here!" InuYasha retorted. "I can handle this, just get everyone out of harm's way!"

He had to stop, since the limbs lashed out again, this time in repeated motions and forcing him on his toes as he slashed and hacked at the limbs. He kept jumping backwards toward the far wall, drawing it toward him, and further from his companions.

"This is not good," Miroku watched him with heavy eyes as he went up on his one good foot. "If I know InuYasha, he's about to do something incredibly stupid."

"Like that's anything new," Shippou bounded over the rock to join the rest of the group that was gathering to band together. "But InuYasha's handled tougher demons, he should handle this one fine enough."

"He suspects the same thing I do," Miroku explained, and pointed at the back of the beast stomping away from them. "Take a look."

The others followed his line of vision, and watched a moment in confusion, until they saw a little green bulb wiggling its way from the head, until a crown of petals unrolled, and out came the unmistakable form of the back of the eye.

"But, I got rid of that thing!" Shippou argued despite the plain logic.

"Regenerative abilities." Miroku explained. "That's how it keeps coming back to fight us. Unless we can be rid of it in one go, it will keep healing itself. I bet the remaining two branches of the demon will be good as new in a few moments."

"And the only way to ensure that," Sango scowled as she watched the battle unfold, "Is to use the Backlash Wave."

A good swipe of InuYasha's sword forced one of the eyes to recoil, and the limb flew back predictably before falling to the floor. He had jumped back against the far wall, and kept up his guard to slay the final piece.

"But if he does that, the whole cave could collapse and he would awaken the volcano!" Shippou realized.

"That's why he's urging us to leave," Miroku elaborated grimly. "Because he has a better chance of surviving it than we do."

"Come on an' get me, if ya can!"

The sword hacked at the final eyeball, before the limbs retreated back into their scale armor. The flattened road from the previous charge was a long stretch between the Dodongo and InuYasha, but he did not take the time to near it. He waited for the promised fire breath, and the charged rollout that would bring it straight to him. Instead of breathing out the fire as per usual, the dragon rolled into a ball, and barreled toward him in a cloud of dust and gravel.

"Hey, how come it didn't use fire this time?" Shippou asked.

"I don't know," Navi admitted. "Maybe because Kagome damaged it's mouth and it's still recovering?"

"InuYasha!" Kagome screamed.

The Dodongo had crashed into the wall, shaking the ground under their feet and rattling dust from the surface of the cave, but InuYasha had jumped to the side to avoid it. The group buckled from the force of the crash rocking the cavern, even as the half demon landed fluidly in a crouch on a boulder. This time, three limbs rose in the raining rocks, as the forth was still rebuilding itself after Kagome's arrow. The three limbs lashed out as Demon Dodongo slowly stomped around to face the foe. InuYasha jumped from rock to rock, leaping and barreling across to try to get to the eye up top, but the limbs coordinated to take him down every time he came close. He grunted every time he slammed into a wall, or ran into a boulder, but he forced himself up each time.

"He's going to get himself killed like that!" Shippou realized.

"InuYasha!" Kagome called. "Come back! This isn't worth your life!"

"Didn't you hear me?" he yelled back. "Get everyone and get out! I'll be fine!"

No, he would not. Link knew it as well as everyone watching. Either the limbs would beat him to death, or he would have to trap himself in a rain of rock and lava. He did not need to ask of the Backlash Wave to know the result would not be good. InuYasha would get himself killed for everyone else's sakes.

Because of location, the monster and its slayer had their profiles to the audience, like a violent stage play for their benefit. Even the Dodongo's earlier rampage had cleared enough of the rubble in front of them to let them see every painful action without a hitch. His friends watched in torture with the knowledge and the spectacle of their friend destroying himself yet again. It was hard to admit even to themselves that their own limitations would get in the way. The boy just stared in awed confusion.

The first time Link met InuYasha, the fierce fighter held him at sword point. The second time, he hacked away at the Stalchildren with ease and brought him inside castle walls for safe keeping. As they traveled, he saved others where Link had failed. He handled each foe without so much as a sweat, and reminded Link, time after time, just how weak a kokiri was in the face of a demon. That night he stopped Link from going up the mountain on his own was something emblazoned in his mind. He should be happy to see InuYasha struggling in battle, to see his strength not holding up as per usual. There should have been some feeling of vindication.

InuYasha deflected a strike, then swung his Tetsaiga up to block a downward strike, just like the first move he had done to protect Link. This time, the force of the hit sent him to a single knee. Because the limbs were too wide to strike simultaneously, they reared back, and went down in successive hits. The repetitive clanks and sparks grated on the ears almost as much as the grunts of pain. The steady onslaught kept pounding down, digging InuYasha deeper into the ground. Even from this far, it was obvious he was bloodied from a hit somewhere on his temple and his muscles were straining. His arms visibly weakened at a suspenseful slow rate, with Tetsaiga coming precariously closer with each passing second.

Link began to shake in angered grief. It was strange. The more he saw the half-demon's defiant pain, or heard his grunts of impact, the more it hurt _him_ every time the fighter was hit.

"That's weird," Navi said suddenly, quietly, almost afraid the Dodongo would turn on them if she whispered too loud. "Where is all that blood coming from?"

Link glance around the area, and only now noted the splotches of red substance. Shoot, how much had InuYasha been beaten? Though as he looked to the fighter again, he realized the hit was only to the temple. There was no chance it could be that excessive.

"Everyone," Miroku said out loud, "We should seriously consider a retreat," and the admittance from the monk looked as though it had punched him in the stomach just to claw up his throat to get it out of his mouth. "As much as I hate to rely on his luck yet again, we don't seem to have any other options."

"Don't say that, Miroku!" Kagome retorted. "I'm not leaving InuYasha, no matter what!"

"But what are we going to do?" Shippou lamented. "Everything we've tried so far hasn't worked!"

Even though he heard the words, Link paid no heed. His attention focused instead on trying to follow the trail of blood around the room. It was even around them, but no one had been bleeding. Actually, the only one who got hit was-

The boy remembered the only instant when a weapon actually cleaved the Dodongo's hide, and his jaw dropped. All the way in the beginning of battle and it was still bleeding? Why hadn't it healed yet? Come to think of it… the jaw was still hanging as well…

Seemingly having enough, the limbs reached back, and side one swept out and swatted InuYasha from his position. He cried out as he struck the wall. He peeled off slowly and plopped to the floor. and slid to the floor.

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried. She raced out to him, but Sango's hold on her arm stopped her.

"We can't!" The slayer tried to implore. "The longer we stay here, the more dangerous we make it for him. We have to get out _now_ while he still has strength to escape!"

Link shook his head and closed his eyes as he turned away from the painful sight, though it did little to help. Through his boots he felt a shake in the earth, making him more uneasy as he heard the arguments. The Dodongo was not healing, but each strike against it sent it into a rampage that was almost more dangerous. There had to be something, _something_ they hadn't tried, _anything_ at all that would subdue the monster. He refused to believe this was the only way. His mind reeled through everything they had used so far, trying to find the weakness somewhere in his mind's eye, but though his mind raced, his fear made it hard to think clearly. Each crash of stone sent his thoughts scattering, and each vocal grunt made him recoil and lose his train of thought. InuYasha was dying. He was going to die. Goddesses above, give him something to work with! He opened his eyes to try to look again at the Dodongo.

And happened to glimpse at the most unlikely bit of help. To hell with thinking, there was no time.

Everyone turned in time to see him run forward to pluck a bomb flower among the rubble, and sprint as fast as his legs could carry him to the battle. He barreled down the path, pounding his legs into the floor, and forcing his exhausted body onward to the front of the fight. The fuse acted as a deadly timer, reminding him of the consequences of his delay. He had to get rid of the eye again. It was the only way to buy InuYasha time and give him a fighting chance against the limbs. Would it do much? In the end, probably not, but if he ran away now, it would eat away at him for the rest of his life.

InuYasha forced himself to swing up from where he lay among the rubble, and spotted the boy running for him.

"Link, what the hell are you doing!"

He stopped on the side of the eye, and held the bomb over his head. The eye on the head noticed him when he hurled it up with as much strength as he could muster, just as it flashed threateningly. It went halfway as far as he wanted, and landed in the open Dragon's mouth.

Only for it to be swallowed.

His heart plummeted like the bomb as the eye turned fully to him. No, no, was he really so pathetic that he couldn't even throw as far as he needed? Not only that, the damn thing _swallowed_ it like a snack. This wasn't fair-!

The dragon jerked, and a muffled explosion turned the dragon red. It arched in the air and flopped forward onto the floor. The pair blinked in dubious surprise. Even the limbs looked down at the fallen lizard part of the beast, and looked to each other in bafflement, even though the scales were sealed. A jingle caught their attention, since she had figured it out.

"A parasite!" the fairy realized. "It's a parasite feeding off of that Dodongo. That's how it's healing itself. Don't just stand there, take it down!"

The limbs seemed to regain their bearings and screeched at Link. InuYasha pierced his chest to get his claws covered in blood again, and released another deadly blood rain. It shook the limbs with sharp clanks against the armor, and pushed them back. Several arcs managed to sneak through the limbs and sliced the fifth eye, forcing the scales back from the remaining eyes.

"Get the dragon!" InuYasha bellowed. "I'll take care of the demon!"

The boy ran through the opening at the distraction. He drew his sword, and hacked at the head of the Dodongo with a battle cry. InuYasha came in behind him, and swung his Tetsaiga to hack at the demon. The two fighters went into double time on their targets, drawing on an impassioned fervor that only came when the long promised end was in sight. They worked on their targets, each using the experience of their own world to incapacitate their own beast.

InuYasha jumped back and forth to keep the limbs on their toes, before hacking with his sword until they deflected and he went into an almost suicidal rampage to slice down each eye when it came too close. It was a harsh and delicately balanced game of catch, trying to keep all three's attention on him in the desperately needed precious seconds. It was harder when the eyes kept trying to turn back to get to the boy attacking their source, but a leap under their heads and a dice of their eyes managed to keep them at bay. And Link flew into a rage beyond his years.

He released strikes from pent up anger from incapability from fighting Stalchildren, pent up anger at his failure to save Kagome, pent up humiliation from tektites, pent up guilt at Kilala's almost death, and pent up fury at the fatal injury to Sango he could not prevent. The power and emotion of his strikes was matched only by the cry of his shouts. For a moment, the Dodongo stirred, and lifted its head for a bit of coherency. With furious roar, Link leaped high and with a final downward stab into King Dodongo's head, he released pent up determination to prove once and for all that The Great Deku Tree's trust in him had not been in vain, just as InuYasha finally jumped, and plowed his Tetsaiga into the heart of the place of the fifth eye to be rid of it once and for all.

The Dodongo rose again, and let out an ear shattering roar into the cavern. The limbs splayed uselessly around it, and it stomped and stumbled blindly, until it arced and rolled back. They watched its precarious roll into the pool of hot broken rock, and burst into flame.

King Dodongo disintegrated from the flames into a black skeletal silhouette before flaking off into black cinders and ash. The demon parasite's flesh burned from the inside until one by one the scales fell apart and clattered onto the red hot stones, rocking on the curved bump of its structure for several moments. It turned even the very center of the cavern into a rubble infested field, though much more macabre in manner. Dodongo's carcass disappeared completely and in its place stood a shimmering and revolving heart with shining blue lining, like a gem. In the middle point a blue ring of light emerged and spread until it circled invitingly for the weary fighters.

"Jeez," InuYasha muttered when he looked back at Link. "Remind me not to piss _you_ off."

The boy looked up at him tiredly, before chuckling soundlessly at the irony. InuYasha collapsed to his knees, holding onto the Tetsaiga for support. Link and Navi looked over in alarm.

"What happened?" The fairy asked.

"I'm fine," the demon insisted, "Just need a few days rest after that."

Link swallowed worriedly. Of course, after all the hits InuYasha had to take, no wonder he was exhausted. The kokiri held a hesitant hand to help up the half demon. The beaten fighter took a look at the small hand, before looking away, and standing.

"Don't bother. I'm a little too much for you, kid," he brushed off, and sheathed his sword. "Let's just go make sure the others are all right."

Everyone made their way around the rocks toward the heart and light after a few slow moments, since they still had to navigate around fallen scales. Even Kilala had managed to crawl her way over to meet her friends. The lava had coagulated into a solid rock surface that was warm, but nowhere near as lethally hot as they had been. It was like all of the heat had been burned right out of it. Kagome was holding Miroku's arm over her shoulder to be his temporary crutch, and Sango was leaning on Hiraikotsu. Kilala was standing again, but not moving very quickly.

"Well, we're all here," Kagome stated. "How is everyone?"

"Alive, thankfully," Miroku answered simply. "I doubt I should walk on this for a while."

"I'm sore, but I'll be all right." Sango answered. "I'll just have to recuperate and avoid heavy training for a while. I'm more worried about Kilala." She glanced to the demon cat. "I'll have to look over her more thoroughly when we get back to Kakariko."

Link looked to the fire saber-tooth as well, his own uncertainty increasing.

"How about you, InuYasha?" Kagome asked.

"Tch, I'll be fine in a day or two."

The kokiri took a look at each of the beaten teammates, trying to gauge injuries. Who was really the worst off? Kagome and Shippou were fine. Miroku did not seem too bad at first glance, but his foot almost looked like it would be unusable for a while. Sango, Kilala, and InuYasha went without saying. But between him and the heart, he could only help two people. Link looked back and forth between the group, and the giant shining heart uncertainly. Who needed it more?

"Go ahead, Link," the monk encouraged. "You should take it. Those burns could lead to infection if not treated."

He looked to the monk in surprise. But, he was fine, why on earth did he think he should take it?

"You deserve it," Kagome added. "We'd still be fighting that thing if it wasn't for you."

"Yeah, that was amazing!" Shippou exclaimed. "I never would've thought of that."

"A stroke of genius, on your part," Miroku smiled.

Link stared at all them, his mind finally drawing together what everyone was saying: Everyone thought he had thrown it in the Dodongo's mouth on purpose. That was why they wanted him to take it like a prize. He swallowed uncomfortably, and lowered his eyes in shame, though everyone thought it was out of embarrassment.

"Will you hurry up and take the thing already?" InuYasha reminded. "We have to get out of here."

Link jumped and ran to the heart to comply, but he stopped in front of it. No, he would not take it, but who should have it? He liked Miroku, he had done nothing but help him, and so he could take the heart. InuYasha seemed like he could stand fine enough on his own, though it probably was mostly for show. He liked both Sango and Kilala, but which one needed his help more?

"Why are you hesitating?" Navi asked. "You can just heal them in a second."

Link glanced over his shoulder, and held up his hand to block his mouth from sight. She hovered close to his whisper, and then looked at him.

"So?"

He beckoned her closer and whispered again. She listened patiently to his mumble, and then sighed.

"Link, you only _need_ one. She can heal all of them."

His jaw dropped and eyes widened in dawning realization. Everyone watched in confusion as Link took the heart, and instead of the usual jingle, he ran right back over, a huge grin on his face as he fished out something from his pouch. They stared at the sight of the glass bottle, and bobbing pink light.

"Is that another fairy?" Kagome asked as she blinked at it.

The boy uncorked the bottle, and the little pink light flew out to instantly circle him from head to toe. Then the fairy headed toward InuYasha since he was closest and repeated the motion. He blinked and looked down at himself.

"Hey, I'm all better."

Pink glittering magic trailed behind the fairy as she circled around both Kagome and Miroku. They followed her progress in rapture, and the monk watched as a burst of pink magic healed his foot instantly right before his eyes. Even his sandal had been restored. He smiled and removed himself from Kagome, and touched down his foot experimentally.

"I have to say: The more time I spend in this world, the more I appreciate its healing properties."

Sango was more open since she already witnessed the abilities, and was already smiling. She straightened as the light traveled down her body, and flexed her hand experimentally. "Well, I could get used to this."

Kilala roared in appreciation when the fairy encircled even her huge body, and as soon as it did, she bounded forward to Link, and licked his cheek. Navi squeaked and zipped away out of reach, but the boy burst into giggles and hugged her neck fiercely. He buried his face into her thick fur gratefully. Thank goodness she was all right.

Shippou's excited eyes just watched the fairy's journey around him, and rolled his shoulder a moment. "Ha, neat."

"And, now that I can walk again," Miroku pulled out a slip of paper from the folds of his robe, with strange character writing, "I suppose it's time for me to exercise this demon."

Link peered out from Kilala's fur questioningly. Sango caught it.

"You see, the bones of a demon can still carry an evil spirit. If it's not cleansed properly, it can bring misfortune to the place it's in. Or attract other demons."

Link's eyes widened, and released Kilala as he jumped back from a scale by his feet. Those things were cursed?

"Don't worry," Kagome soothed. "We have Miroku on the job for that. He can take care of the evil spirit with his ofuda."

The boy and fairy tilted their heads. Ofuda?

"Demon spirit, be gone from this place and lay to rest!"

The man was standing by the main collections of scales that had been along the Dodongo's spine. The paper in his hand flew out from his hand and attached to the armor. He bounced his staff several times off the rock, jingling the rings in a wordless mantra before bringing his left hand up in front of his face in prayer.

"Hey Link?" Shippou spoke up. "How come you didn't use that fairy before? You looked like you weren't sure at first."

Navi sighed as Link twisted his foot in the rock. "He thought it only worked on one person. Healing Fairies are very rare, so he thought he would have to choose who got it."

"So that's why you hesitated," Shippou realized.

"Link," Kagome put her hands on her knees as she bent down to be closer to his level, "That was very generous of you, thank you."

"I can see why that would deter you," Miroku said as he returned to them, "but it would have been better if you told us that first. If it really did only work for one person, we would have been able to decide amongst ourselves who needed it more."

Sango sighed from where she was kneeling to reach her climbing hook and small sword.

"Link, this is what we were talking about," she said, and walked over to him. "How can we understand what's going on if you won't tell us? You're trying too much on your own."

"It's like with InuYasha," Shippou agreed. "That idiot never asks for help, and almost gets himself killed."

"Hey," he barked. "I do plenty fine on my own, you all just worry too much."

"You see what we mean?" Kagome smiled in exasperation. "He says that even when he almost got himself killed for our sakes. If you don't ask for help, how will we know when you're really in trouble? Then we just have to keep an eye on you to make sure you're all right."

"So..." Navi looked to her uncertainly, "You're saying that if we actually ask you for help sometimes, then you'll butt out?"

"In a manner of speaking," Miroku responded easily. "If you ask for help when you really need it, then we know you understand your own limitations. We've only been trying to help you in a world we don't understand, yet you seem to act as though we cannot be trusted to assist you."

The boy and his fairy shifted slightly in discomfort, the words ringing a little too true to ignore. Now that Link thought about it, at the river the others had been closer and could have helped Kagome faster than him. Or better yet, gotten her out of danger before she was taken. And at the Goron pass, he had not even thought of trying to ask for help before he was overwhelmed, and as a result, almost lost the emerald. And InuYasha really was stronger than he was, and could have gotten Kilala out of the way quicker. He almost got her and himself killed because he was not fast enough.

He had always thought the others just did not think highly enough of him to trust him to stand on his own. Maybe the truth was: he just was not ready to stand on his own.

"Well, what about Shippou?" Navi defended half heartedly. "He's even smaller than Link, but you seem to trust him to go into battle."

"That's because Shippou is a demon and understands battle. Plus we know he'll run away if it becomes too much."

"I'm not a coward!" Shippou yelled out.

"No one's saying you are," Kagome soothed.

"But you," Miroku continued, "are much more like a certain hotheaded friend of ours. Always trying to prove his strength and keep us out of danger at the risk of his own life."

"Tch," InuYasha crossed his arms. "I'm fine now, aren't I?"

Sango was the one that spoke up this time. "But we've almost lost him, several times. If it wasn't for his demonic strength, he would have been killed a long time ago."

"I know that," the demon answered, and he surprised Navi and Link with the sincerity of his words. "I've learned to survive this long on it."

"Then stop trying to do everything yourself!" Kagome answered back, and the two newcomers were surprised by the ferocity in her voice. "Why do you insist on almost getting yourself killed for our sakes?"

Link and Navi watched, absolutely stunned by this discovery of information.

"We've come to rely on miracles with him," Miroku said seriously. "We don't want to have to do the same with you."

The boy looked up to the man, as a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say, Link, is that we need you to speak with us."

Link could not look away from him, even when Miroku had basically just told him he needed to live through his worst nightmare.

"We're a team because we look out for each other." Sango agreed. "We can't do that if we don't communicate with each other."

"Link, do you remember how you felt when you saw InuYasha fighting?" Miroku smiled knowingly. "Or when Kilala had fallen?"

The boy gulped, and nodded slowly.

"What you felt made you act without self preservation. Kilala is usually well enough to look after herself. You know InuYasha is a capable fighter, yet you still rushed to both of their aid when they seemed overwhelmed. Even if it meant a risk to your own life. That is what we feel for each other, no matter the circumstances. We have come to expect it for every battle. But I assure you that it never gets easier to handle."

Wide blue eyes looked into Miroku's comforting dark eyes, and Sango's warm chocolate brown. They looked out for each other, but until now he had never thought really thought about what it meant to receive their help. It was only to prove himself, and despite his best intentions, he ended up putting them in danger.

"You're not a demon, kid," came the brisk voice to his side. "If you don't stop acting like it, you won't end up as lucky as me. We don't want to have to see you die."

Now it made sense. They wanted to protect him. It was the same way he had felt when he saw Sango thrashed, and when InuYasha had been fighting. They felt that for each other. And for him. He suddenly felt a surge of gratitude. If they had not done what they had, it would have meant they did not feel as though he were worth risking their lives for. And that knowledge made his heart light and free. If only that knowledge were obvious sooner, then things would be a whole lot easier to understand.

"Well, what do you say?" Miroku said lightly. "Can we try this again? On a better foot, this time?"

Navi sighed dramatically. "Well, you guys really _have_ been doing a good job to keep him out of trouble. And if everything from here on out is going to be as hard as this, we definitely need all the help we can get."

Link smiled slowly and nodded. Sango returned the smile.

"Welcome to the team."

His smile turned into a beam. He twirled on his toes to stroll up to the blue light singing in welcome.

"Link?" Sango called curiously.

"That's our exit," Navi clarified.

"That so," Miroku held his chin and tilted his head thoughtfully. "I was _wondering_ what that was. Well, it certainly doesn't seem dark or malicious."

Everyone stared at the half-demon strutting right up to the portal. He cast one glance over his shoulder at the stunned watchers.

"Well, you heard her. We getting out of here, or what?" he said simply, and stepped into the light.

The blue intensified, and he looked up to the ceiling. His clothes and hair lifted with weightlessness, and his body rose up the column, until his body vanished from sight. The others took one look at each other and smiled, before going up to do the same.

* * *

Also, I feel as though I should be honest with you guys here. The reason why this actually took longer than it might otherwise have is because... I started a new fanfiction. Kingdom Hearts.

Yeah, I know, not even the same fandom. Whatever, I liked the idea, and went with it. Combine that with the comic projects I still haven't done, updates are still going to be sporadic. Yeah, be prepared.

So, how'd I do? Was the promised action scene up to par? Was it awesome and amazing? Did it drag? I'd love some opinions and critiques. I've never written such a lengthy fight scene, so had to work with breaks, and fast pace. Did I do it right? :D


	13. ThThThThat's all, folks!

The day was bright and welcoming for the descending team outside the mouth of Dodongo's cavern. The air was fresh and cool next to the sweltering and ashy caves, and the mountain passage looked wide and open in comparison to the cramped spaces they were just fighting in. A sense of peace and finality soothed everyone as they finally allowed themselves to enjoy a job well done. They were also reminded how huge and heavy the Gorons were when a surprise visitor dropped down from the ledge above them. The impact nearly made them stumble, but they righted themselves and turned to face the new intruder. At the sight of the rocky white spikes on his head like a headpiece, the newcomer stood proudly and graced them all with a genuine and grateful smile

"It's me, Darunia. Well done! Now thanks to all of you, we can finally eat the delicious rocks from the cavern until our stomachs burst!" he laughed heartily, and clapped Miroku on the back. Not once, not twice, but three times, hard enough to send him to the ground. "You humans are sturdier than you look!"

"You okay, Miroku?" Sango asked uncertainly.

"Yes," he assured shakily as he got back up to his feet. "I'm perfectly fine,"

Link winced and discreetly moved a bit further from the chief.

"I heard of your strength in stopping Sesun," Darunia turned to InuYasha, "with strength like that on your side, it's no wonder you got through the cave so easily!"

"Who's Sesun?" Sango whispered.

"He must be that big Goron InuYasha stopped back then," Kagome guessed.

"Tch," InuYasha crossed his arms and smirked. "It's about time we all got some appreciation around here."

"Huh?" Shippou raised an eyebrow. "Link was the one who-"

Link slapped a hand over Shippou's mouth and shushed him, making the child look up to him in confusion. The only answer he gave was a desperate shake of his head.

"Indeed, we will never forget the stories of your adventures. As of this moment, we shall now consider all of you our sworn brothers!"

Kagome blinked and looked to Sango. "Does that include us?"

"Just as promised, take this as a token of our friendship!"

Everyone almost expected it by now when Darunia started glowing, and the others parted to clear the way for Link. Darunia raised his palms skyward, and red rays gathered into the air above him like a star. There was a flash of light, and everyone watched as Link raised his own palms to hold the glittering crimson stone set in gold to hover above his head. The awe and spectacular impression of this moment was one the onlookers would not easily forget. That might have been mostly due to the theme music.

"You obtained the Goron's Ruby!" Navi proclaimed. "This is the Spiritual Stone of Fire passed down by the Gorons! You don't know what he means by "Sworn Brothers" but you've collected two Spiritual Stones! You have one more to find."

The stone lowered itself into Link's hands, and the boy diligently put it into the bag as he swelled with pride. Now there was only _one_ more stone to find, and soon this whole disaster would be over.

"Brothers, you will all be brushing up on your skills as you travel, yes?" Darunia asked. "Then you should all visit the Great Fairy on top of Death Mountain. She will power you up."

"Great Fairy?" Kagome perked at the mention, and her eyes sparkled. "Is there really one? Like a fairy queen?"

"Of course!" He laughed at the silly human. "Hey, everybody! Let's see off our brothers!"

That was the only warning everyone had before the rain of death fell upon them. Also known as over-excited-goron-brethren. Several rocks crashed into the dirt around the group, and the boulders unfurled themselves. Their large blues eyes glittered with awe and adoration.

"InuYasha?" A younger sounding Goron came up to his left. "I saw you stop Sesun, you were really cool. I bet those Dodongos were nothing for you, right?"

"Yeah," said another. "I bet you weren't even scared at all!"

One behind the group pounded his chest. "A true warrior of strength!"

InuYasha blinked at the blatant praise, and looked around him at the set of fans he had just acquired. At first it seemed as though he was so surprised he did not know how to react. Then he did something Link and Navi had never truly seen before.

He grinned.

"Well, I don't like to _brag_ or anything," he straightened and crossed his arms before sending them a cocky smirk. "But yeah, things like this aren't a problem."

"Oh brother…" Shippou muttered.

The other Gorons went into a sudden frenzy, cheering and clapping with a passion. Sango raised one eyebrow as she looked at him.

"Well, he looks happy."

"Ah, let him have his fun," Kagome waved it off. "He rarely gets to have people actually thank him, so maybe one time won't hurt."

"Thank you, all of you!" Darunia boomed. "Allow us to send you off with a nice, big, Goron hug!"

Simultaneously, all of the faces blanched.

"Nice…" Kagome's eyes widened.

"Big…" Shippou's knees started shaking.

"Goron hug?" Miroku squeaked.

Kilala's fur stood on end and arched her spine. Link ran away screaming. Shippou was quick to follow. And though the good, calm and collected demon slayers knew better than to refuse someone's generosity, they also had a sense of self-preservation.

"Take InuYasha!" Miroku shoved him forward. "He's stronger!"

He stumbled as his so-called-friends threw him to the Gorons and beat a hasty retreat. He turned back to see them attempting to run down the mountain pass back to Kakariko, but being blocked off by more raining Gorons, and being forced to take the upper road.

"Hey!" he called out. "Traitors! Come back here!" He jumped and took a wary step back. "H-Hey wait a second, c-can't we talk about this?"

But alas, the wave of arms paid no heed and overwhelmed him. As his agonized wail of defeat echoed through the mountains, the friends bid a silent farewell to the fighter that had been a brave enough warrior to sacrifice himself in the end.

They finally stopped at the fork in the road, where they first came across the sign that read: "Beware of falling Gorons". Only there did they allow themselves the luxury to double over and pant from exhaustion from the brief but desperate sprint. At least they were alive. Kilala, being the only one on four legs, was of course still feeling fine, and looked over her companions curiously. It must have been hard, having only two legs. Shippou plopped back and sighed heavily.

"Man, I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life."

"At least it's over," Sango flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "I'm going to go get changed. I'll meet you guys back here after you meet with the fairy."

"Ah, my bag!" Kagome jumped, "I forgot, it's still in there."

"It's fine, Kagome," Miroku assured. "I'll bring your things out for you. You can go on ahead."

"Would you really? Oh, thank you Miroku!"

"You're not coming?" Navi asked.

"No, I don't think it's necessary," Miroku explained. "My power is spiritual, not magical. I doubt she will be able to grant me anything useful."

"And my power lies in my strength," Sango elaborated. "I'm busy enough keeping up my body's training, I don't have time to practice spells too."

"Well…" Kagome chuckled lightly. "I don't know if she'll be able to give me anything either, but-" she clapped. "I'd love to meet her! Is she pretty?"

"She's gotta be," Shippou pushed up to his feet again. "She's the Fairy Queen, right?"

Miroku perked up. "Oh that's true. I had just thought she'd be similar in appearance to Navi, but I'm probably mistaken." He leaned to the fairy curiously. "Tell me, is she a beauty?"

"I…" Navi flittered uncertainly as Link cocked his head curiously.

"_Monk_," Sango grounded out. "Didn't you just get through saying how you _didn't_ need to be going?"

Miroku the monk, the man of honor, virtue, and purity, froze and laughed nervously. "Ah, I did, didn't I? Well, come on now, we're in a different world. What's the point if we can't enjoy all the wonders it has to offer us?"

"Save it."

"No, wait, Sango!" The monk pleaded as his collar was grabbed and the demon slayer dragged him back with her to the Goron city. "Just a peek, I only want a minute, please, Sango, have mercy!"

"She…" Navi stared after them. "Has a pretty good hold over him, doesn't she?"

"You could say that," Kagome agreed.

Link stared after, his worry increasing again at the wonder of Sango's sudden violent mood swing. She seemed to do that a lot…but only around Miroku… come to think of it, why did Navi not really like him either? He liked Miroku, the man was nice and actually defended him (most recent battle excluded). Maybe he just got a bad reputation. Poor Miroku. Kirara looked after Sango and Miroku, before deciding they needed this bit of time for themselves, and padded up by the ones still planning to hike up the mountain. Link reached up and pet behind her ears, and she retaliated by nuzzling his chin.

"You two seem close now," Kagome observed with a smile.

"Of course," Navi said easily. "She saved us more than once. Like I said, she's he only one with any brains around here. Come on, let's get up there and find the Great Fairy."

Link nodded, and the five remaining travelers marched along the way. Kagome looked around in confusion.

"Am I the only one who hears a cow?"

Some time and some distance later, Kilala landed on the mountaintop and let down her passengers. Link made another mental note to ask for a longer ride on Kilala later. These little trips were far too short for his liking. Kagome went up to the giant cat's head this time, and gave her a grateful pat.

"Thanks Kilala. We couldn't have done it without you. I'm just surprised the volcano was still acting up." She looked back down the path they had flown over to avoid. "I hope it settles down by the time we go back down. Now where is that cave?"

Up here they saw nothing. There were no entrances or openings that hinted to a cave. Not even a sign to a doorway.

"Are we in the right place?" Kagome had to ask, then stopped and tilted her head as she spotted a large patch in the mountain face that was different than the surrounding rock. "How come that spot looks funny... Like in Dodongo's cavern…" then she remembered when the wall had broken when the beast broke through, and she flew back, wide-eyed. "Don't tell me…!"

"Hey, Shippou," Navi said. "Link's gonna need to borrow a bomb again."

"Already?" Shippou complained, and looked to the boy holding out a hand expectantly.

They were referring to down on the foot of the pathway, when a group of boulders impeded their process, and Link needed to use the bombs because he was so in tune with their timing. And seemed brave enough to use them, if the time in the cave was anything to go by. He huffed and held the bag out to him.

"Go ahead and take it. You look like you can use them better than me anyway."

Link blinked, and stared at the kitsune curiously. He refused to look at Link, and held it out expectantly. Then Link looked to the bag, and smiled before taking it, and patting Shippou's head and turned to take care of the odd patch of rock. Shippou stared after Link, hardly believing his motions. Kagome affectionately ruffled his hair.

"I'm proud of you, Shippou." she said.

He blushed, and crossed his arms stubbornly to play it off. "W-Well, it only makes sense anyway, right? I figure he could make better use of it anyway. He needs all the help he can get."

"Right. Kilala?" Kagome turned back. "Are you coming in with us, or will you wait out here?"

The demon cat sat back on her haunches, and swished her giant, fluffy two tails against the floor.

"All right. We'll be right out."

Once they rested and entered the mouth of the cave, they forgot all about their exhaustion, and their worries of getting back down.

Magical. The single word described the very essences of the cavern. Glittering rain trickled down the walls around them, lighting the place with a violet-blue aurora that left the newcomers speechless. Shining white marble paved in a straight, smooth path before them, and they followed the glowing stone to the fountain. Torches flickered on either side of the water, but the radiance of the stone and glittering rain was what lit the room. All three stopped before the shallow three steps that led to the pure sacred water, and looked on in wonder at the golden emblem.

"Whoa…" was all Shippou could say.

"This place is so beautiful!" Kagome gasped. Her hands cupped her cheeks, and she twirled as she looked around in wonder. "I've never seen anything like it!"

Link did not know what to say. Then remembered he would not have said anything anyway. Being mute was handy like that.

"Huh, so this is what the entrance looks like," Navi flitted around Link curiously. "I gotta say, I like what she's done with the place."

"Well, where is she?" Kagome asked.

"Um…" Navi lowered to look at the emblem. "I can't know for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion."

Link was thinking along the same lines, and brought out his ocarina. A jingle from no where, and sudden silence alerted them that this was the right choice. Starting slow, and remembering the notes, the royal song echoed through the cavern, filling it with a new kind of magic; one that soothed the soul, and opened the heart. A sudden maniacal cackle after the tune made them wonder if this was the right choice. They watched in rapture as a woman came spiraling out of the water to hover above the spring. She sat in mid-air and crossed her legs and lay her head against her palm as she appraised the newcomers. Her hot pink hair floated with her magic, and was the same shade as her wide, plump lips, and the garish decorative paint over her pink eyes. The overwhelming color was off-set by the green of the ivy that snaked all around her torso, down her thighs, and around her wrists, ankles, and three thick tresses of hair.

Kagome and Shippou stared and took a careful step back.

"She's…" Kagome smiled nervously. "Definitely not what I had in mind."

"Welcome, everyone," the voice rang clear through the cavern. "I am the Great Fairy of Power. I will grant this young boy a sword enchantment."

"Something for his sword?" Shippou huffed. "Good thing InuYasha isn't here."

"Receive it now."

The fairy uncrossed her legs to stand, and held out her hands to focus her magic. A sparkling swirl of magic encircled Link, and engulfed him in a circle of golden light around his feet. Then he felt the magic course through him, and he grinned as he spun and threw up his hands in victory.

"Congratulations!" Navi cheered. "You have received the-"

Her words sped up as thought fast forwarded, making her explanation disappear in the speed. When she finished, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, at least I didn't have to go through all that in real time. Thank heavens for "B" button."

"When you charge power for a spin attack, power will be consumed. Pay attention to your magic energy," the Great Fairy advised. "You're a royal messenger, right? Well, next time you're in the area, you should drop in on a friend of mine that lives near the castle. I'm sure she'll grant you another power." Her smile widened. "When battle has made you weary, come to my springs to refresh yourself."

And then another mad cackle that made their hair stand on end sent the fairy spiraling back into the pond. This time all three of the visitors looked to the water warily.

"Um… she gave us good advice, right?" Kagome excused.

"But was it worth it?" Shippou had to ask.

"Not sure," Navi looked to the sword. "She said something about your spin attack. Wanna test it out?"

Link nodded quickly and excitedly ran out the cavern, Kagome and Shippou hot on his heels. They both stayed back as he drew his sword, and held it behind him. He focused his stance like he usually did, and immediately felt the difference in power, After a moment, pulsating blue energy sheathed the blade. With a shout, Link swung his sword and pivoted to release the pent up magic in a white circle.

"Wow, that was so cool!" Kagome gushed as she clapped.

Link looked at his sword with initial disappointment. After witnessing the great power of Kagome's arrow, or InuYasha's Blades of Blood, or even Sango's Hiraikotsu, his powered up spin attack was just pathetic in comparison. Then he remembered the Fairy mentioning that she had another friend in Hyrule Castle. Maybe she could give him more power like this. He considered the sword a moment before sheathing it. Perhaps he still had a chance to be strong like them. He did not want to put himself in danger and worry them again, not if he wanted to help them. Kilala stood and looked to them expectantly. Kagome and Shippou obligingly hopped on again. Link looked at Shippou thoughtfully, an idea suddenly forming in his head, but banished the thought. It was a silly idea anyway. Plus it meant he would have had to _talk_ to Shippou, and he could not have that.

They met InuYasha, Miroku, and Sango at the signpost just as they agreed. Miroku was keeping a hold of the two-wheeled pink contraption, and had the giant yellow pack slung over his shoulder.

"Well, I see you survived," Navi greeted the half demon.

"Tch, it'll take more than that to get _me_ down." He smirked at the fairy. "But I guess something like that wouldn't make sense for a stupid gnat like you. I could just _stomp_ on ya and you'd be history."

She jingled irritably. "Go ahead and try it, dog-breath!

"Come on, you two," Kagome placated. "Do you two have to fight _every_ time you get together?"

"Hey, she started it," InuYasha defended.

"I wouldn't _have_ to if you weren't such a pain."

"Honestly," Sango sighed from the side. "It's like with Kouga all over again."

"Indeed." Miroku agreed. "The more things change, I suppose."

Link blinked up at them, not having the foggiest idea what they were going on about.

"Will you both knock it off?" Kagome finally snapped. "We're supposed to be working together!"

Both of them huffed, and InuYasha turned up his nose away from her, and Navi floated back over to an exasperated Link, silently calling a temporary truce. No one stated how long it would last. Kagome finally took back her yellow bag, and pink bike from Miroku and walked it back down the mountain path beside InuYasha. Kilala opted to stay in her big form a bit longer for whatever reason, and brought up the rear beside Sango and Miroku, with Shippou and Link in the middle. Link and Navi looked after Kagome and wondered if she would be all right with that. Sure, Sango was super strong and could handle the Hiraikotsu, but Kagome was a slightly different story.

"Hey Link, where's the bomb bag?" Shippou asked suddenly when he noticed the absence on the boy's belt. "You didn't leave it behind, did you?"

Link shook his head. He opened up the pouch by his hip, and pulled out the sack to show him.

"Huh? How'd you get it to fit in there?" he asked in confusion.

"Put it in the pouch, of course," Navi brushed off. "Handy for keeping things together."

To demonstrate, Link then pulled out the ammo bag for his deku nuts, his sling shot, and the now empty glass bottle. He handed the off to a stunned Shippou to hold, reached into his pouch, and bit by bit, pulled out two long Deku sticks. The people behind him had stopped to stare, and the two in front turned and did the same when they sensed the pause.

"You can carry all that in that little thing?" Shippou gawked.

"Amazing…" Sango breathed. "It's like a whole other world in there."

"Maybe there is something to this magical pouch after all," Miroku stroked his chin, and neared to examine it. "Just how can we go about getting one of these?"

Link and Navi stared at them all, and looked to each other in confusion.

"I don't get what's the big deal, it's just a pouch. Heck, all the kokiri have them. You already have your own. Although, I don't even want to know the mountain of stuff Kagome has in hers. What do you have in there, a house?"

"Well, not exactly…" Kagome eyed the itty bitty little pouch longingly.

Link shrugged, and put away his things. Considering all the amazing stuff these guys could do, he did not understand why they were so fascinated with his pouch. These people were weird.

"Um, Link, do you think you could carry a couple of things for me?" Kagome asked in a small voice. "I mean you don't have to or anything, I was just wondering."

"Sure, why not?" Navi answered for him. "We said you could before, remember?"

"Right, hold on a second," She put down her bag, and ruffled through it a moment before taking out three thick books, and one smaller one. She stacked them on top of each other, and held them out. Link stood and took a hold of them, and almost dropped them from the weight. Man, these things were heavier than they looked. Not quite as bad as uprooting a bomb flower, though.

"These are my books. Unfortunately, they're pretty heavy for my bag. Can you fit them in there?"

Link opened his bag. He found an empty pocket and slipped it in there. The rim of the bag distorted for a moment, but the bag went back to normal, and the flap went back over without a hitch. He looked back up at Kagome and nodded. She sighed heavily in relief.

"Thank goodness. They're not too heavy, right?"

He shook his head, and smiled reassuringly.

"Good. These are very, _very_ important," she insisted, "So I'm trusting you to watch over them for me, okay?"

Link became solemn, and nodded quickly. He would be sure to protect Kagome's books, no matter what.

"Perfect," she gave him a thumbs up. "I'm counting on you."

He mimicked her gesture, not quite sure what it meant, but knowing it had to be a good thing. She picked her bag back up and pushed her bike again.

"Wow, it feels so much lighter without them," she sighed happily.

"Tch, if it was that heavy, you should have just told me," InuYasha said. "I could've carried it for you."

"I can't have you carry it all the time. Besides, the books are the only real problem, everything else in here is fine."

Sango glanced over when she sensed a pair of eyes on her. "Miroku? Is something wrong?"

"No, I was just wondering if Link's pouch could even hold the Hiraikotsu, if we wanted."

"Not likely. I doubt it could even fit in the opening. Besides, I'd rather have it on me, so I can use it at a moment's notice."

"True, true, it's just that now I'm rather curious. Just what can he _not_ fit in there?"

Alas, it had to be pondered for another time. Everyone arrived to Kakariko in one piece, and settled into Impa's house, since after that excursion, they truly were exhausted, even with the healing factor. It was late afternoon, very close to sunset, so it was appropriate anyway.

"Man, what a day." Shippou sighed as he flopped backwards to the ground.

Link took off his shield, and stretched languorously, yawned, and flopped to the floor, just before his stomach growled. He looked down at his belly, as though making sure it really was from his own stomach the sound had come from.

"Ah, of course you must be hungry by now," Kagome realized. "Thankfully, I have just the thing for that." She flipped open her bag, and rummaged around in the great mountain that was her backpack. "Now let's see…"

"Kagome," Sango interrupted, and her face was tinged with worry. "I know you mean the best, but maybe we shouldn't give him any of your ninja snacks."

"Why not?"

"Remember what happened last time we ate the food here?"

The whole group did, and took a look at Link in sudden realization. Kagome looked back into her bag and back to the boy.

"Well… maybe it was just a fluke? A bad batch?"

"Thanks for your concern," Navi spoke up, "but we'll be okay. Link should be able to go out and buy some food." She hovered back near Link's hat and muttered into his ear. "And I don't even _want_ to know what strange things these people have."

"Oh, are you out of food?"

Everyone stopped and turned to the woman that was sleeping on the top floor of Impa's house, a familiar face that no one could name, but decided to call "the Cucco Lady."

"I've made extra soup," she offered. "Would you all like some?"

Everyone stared, a bit taken aback by the offer.

"Ah, no, thank you," Kagome spoke up. "We're really not that hungry."

Link's stomach growled again, and he covered it as he blushed.

"Erm," Kagome backtracked. "Well, Link is. Maybe he could have a bite?"

"Of course, all of you are more than welcome. Just come up here when you change your mind."

Link stood hesitantly, and looked questioningly to each of the people in turn.

"Go on," Sango urged. "We'll be fine, we have our own food. You need to get your strength back, after earlier."

Link figured they would be fine, and hurried up the steps to join the Cucco lady in her meal. Once he left, Kagome looked back in her bag and brought out the snack bags. She handed out each item, finishing with tossing InuYasha a bag of potato chips. Everyone opened their respective items, and froze when they saw the contents. Or lack thereof. Inside each wrapper, there was nothing but air. The empty space in the containers rattled each of them deeply, but they could do no more then stare.

"Where did the food go?" Shippou asked quietly.

"Perhaps it did not make the journey?" Miroku mused.

"Then why the heck did the stupid _wrappers_ make it through?" InuYasha ground out.

"Kagome," Sango murmured. "Are all of your snacks gone?"

"I'm checking now," the girl said, and went to examine each bit. With every one she opened, the knot of dread increased. When she had finally reached the final one, she placed them back in and looked down solemnly.

"This is problematic." Miroku said seriously. "InuYasha, how's the soup smell to you?"

"Not good," he answered.

"Even cooked food is not an option." He handed the bag over in resignation, and the others followed his example. "It won't do us any good if we can't even keep it down."

"What are we going to do?" Shippou lamented.

"We don't really have a choice. Either wait until we find a way back home, or force ourselves to eat here while we can. Considering we managed to find the second spiritual stone this quickly, I hope for the latter option."

"But how long can we go without food?" Shippou insisted.

"We've had to go without food before," Miroku reminded. "It was not a picnic, but we made it. I know the human body can last several weeks without food, but we'll start weakening after maybe three days."

"And how many of these days here equal our own?" Sango brought up.

"Several, at least. Perhaps three. Six, if we include night time."

"So if we say one week equals a full day in our time," Kagome murmured as she tried to calculate. "We have almost three weeks to try to get back home before we start losing our strength."

"Let's hope it will be enough. Truth be told, I'm not even hungry yet, so we shouldn't have to worry about it." Sango sighed as she looked up to the second floor. "What I'm worried about is Link. If I know him like I think I do, he'll be hesitant to eat, at least in front of us."

The others followed her eyes to see the boy happily slurping down the stew with the Cucco Lady, realizing Sango was definitely right. InuYasha huffed and leaned back against the wall.

"Man, what a pain."

"Link, can I see those books that I gave you earlier?" Kagome asked when he returned.

Link rummaged in his bag, and held them out in offering to her. She took them gratefully, and set three off to the side, before opening one, and flipping through the pages to find her place.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," Navi piped up. "What are those for, exactly?"

"They're for my studies," Kagome explained. "Back in my world, I still need to take tests. We travel around a lot, so I don't usually get the chance, but I try to study when I can."

Link carefully picked up one of the books she wasn't using, and opened it. He held it eyelevel, and Navi hovered right by him to read along. He tilted his head slightly, and Navi went with it. After another moment, he tilted it some more, Navi still going with him. He finally craned his neck all the way, before looking up to her in utter confusion.

"Well, I can understand if you can't read it," Kagome chuckled. "I'm the one who has to study it."

Link shook his head, closed the book, and put it back down. Well, he just had to carry them for her, not understand what the heck they actually said. He could worry about it another time, he decided, as he yawned widely. So he crawled over to his little space, curled up, and settled on the floor. InuYasha sat up against the wall again, in a display that confused Link to no end, but he did not question it. Sango lay on the other side of the room, with Kilala curled up by her head and Shippou was settled by Kagome, already dozing off. Miroku was closer to Link, also sitting up against the wall. Sleep came easily enough to him. He was lulled by the sound of the soft cackle of fire, soft breathing of the others, and the occasional turn of Kagome's "studies". It was a little strange for it not to be completely dark and quiet like in his room, but he was too tired for it to deter him.

That night, everyone managed to find sleep, and were so exhausted from the past day's events they slept past sunrise. In the morning light, everyone stretched as they awoke from their "nap" as they had to call it. A few went outside to get some fresh air for a bit, or get a jumpstart on trying to find rumors about the spiritual stone. About midmorning, they gathered again to swap information, and it was around that time that Link awoke. Well, actually, Kilala had decided that he had been sleeping long enough, and needed to rejoin the waking world. The kitten padded up to him, and mewled once. She noticed his twitching, and shuddering, and cocked her head curiously. The boy whimpered, and his expression pinched in sleepy distress. The kitten reached out and batted at his nose. The boy's breath hitched as his eyes shot open. He blinked at the wide red eyes looking back at him, until she leaned over and licked his nose. He finally scrunched his nose, and wiped at it. He yawned once and stretched before sitting up. He smiled and pet the kitten gently.

"Oh, you're awake," Kagome realized. "How long have you been up?"

Navi crawled out of Link's hat, and wriggled out to stretch her wings. "Just got up. You guys been up for a while?"

"Not too long," Sango amended. "We've been outside trying to gather information about the next stone. Nothing so far."

"Link, Navi," Miroku addressed. "May I ask you a serious question?"

Link finally stood to stretch his legs, and went about to equipping his weapons again as he looked curiously to Miroku.

"Go ahead," Navi yawned momentarily as she flittered about.

"Is there something you're not telling us about the curse over the Great Deku Tree?"

Both of them were instantly wide-awake. They both stared at the monk, and they felt, more than saw, all of the eyes now staring at him.

"No, we've already told you everything," Navi assured, a little confused. "Gannondorf came into the forest, and demanded the emerald. When the Great Deku Tree didn't give it, he cursed him with Queen Gohma. Link had to go in and slay her. That was when the Great Deku Tree gave us the emerald and told us to find the princess and warn her."

"I can follow that, but something else bothers me. Link's behavior, back in Kokiri Forest. He seems to hold guilt for what happened, as though he had a hand in it. Maybe he feels he did not do enough to save him?"

Navi sighed. "I've tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, but I don't know if he believes that."

"Well, we can't really know for certain. So I'll have to ask him this personally. Link, do you blame yourself for his passing?"

Link was already feeling the fear as the conversation mounted. The boy gulped down his nervousness, as he darted between all the eyes. It was hard to read their expressions. He was too young to read the emotions swirling behind their eyes, but he could sense the expectancy at least. They wanted to know about his failure. About his weakness. Great, and right after he thought for sure he had gained their respect. He fidgeted before steeling himself, knowing he had to come clean. He just really wished there could have been a way to avoid _telling_ them. He took a shaky breath, choking around the lump.

"I… I r-ran..." He murmured softly.

The others tried to process this statement. Ran? From what? Kagome ventured her guess first.

"You did the right thing." She assured. "A fight with Mido wouldn't have solved anything."

"_N-No_! I," he shook his head. "I r-ran from th...th-the G-Great Dek-ku Tree! He as-s... as-_sked_ if I… if I…"

"Quite stammerin' already, and spit it out," InuYasha finally barked impatiently. "We don't have all day."

"InuYasha, sit!"

He went down, but only at the same time another yell came.

"I C-CAN'T!"

Everyone stared at the boy, stunned at the sudden yell as his wild eyes stared at the prone form, just before he curled back in on himself. His eyes watered as his lower lip trembled. Navi jingled irately and zoomed to InuYasha.

"Oh, way to go, _dog-breath_!"

"_What_?" he peeled his head up to glare at her. "I just told him to hurry up, what's wrong with that?"

"Because he can't, you _moron_, that's how he talks!"

"What? Isn't he just scared?"

"No," this time Miroku cut in, his arms were crossed as he looked seriously to the floor. "It's a speech condition that ails children regardless of their emotion. I've had my fair share of parents asking me for a charm or blessing to help their child become more eloquent. Unfortunately, I have yet to hear of anything that would help."

"I remember coming across someone like that once, too," Sango agreed as she stroked Kilala's fur thoughtfully. "My family was in a village that had a girl like that. Many thought her too dumb for anything besides manual labor. They claimed she could read and write well enough, but she was too slow for skilled labor. I remember thinking how it was odd when they said that, yet she always reacted immediately to anything that was said."

"There was a demon I came across once," Shippou said quietly, "when I was with Papa. He was a trickster like Hachi, but he didn't like to talk, and when he did, he had to do it really slow, or he'd stumble over his words. Papa told me to be patient with him, because he said his mouth had a mind of it's own and made it hard for him."

"That's a rather creative way of putting it," Miroku smiled despite himself, and turned to his friend. "Well, InuYasha, haven't you ever come across someone like that?"

He had managed to push himself up, and dusted off his outfit. "No. This is the first time," he assured as he went back to his cross legged position. "I've never even heard of something like that before."

Navi sighed. "He's been like this since he was little. It actually got worse the older he got."

"Link," Kagome asked softly. "Did the other kids tease you about it? Is that why you stopped talking?"

There were already tears down his red cheeks as he ran for the door.

"Link," Sango called out.

The door slammed. A thick and eerie quiet descended upon everyone still in the building. It was quiet for another moment as the others contemplated this sudden turn.

"InuYasha," Kagome murmured.

He did not say anything, but looked down.

"I think you should be the one to apologize to him," she continued softly.

"Especially considering he's the one that ran out for you, back in the cave," Sango agreed. "It's only right."

"You don't have to keep telling me," he finally said, but it was accepting, and not defensive. He pushed up to his feet, and strolled to the door. After a moment of remembering how to use a doorknob, he left the building.

"Are you sure we should leave him alone for this?" Shippou asked uncertainly. "What if he makes it worse?"

"InuYasha may seem harsh on the surface," Kagome conceded. "But he can be very thoughtful when he needs to be."

Miroku smiled wryly at Kagome. "Known from personal experience. Isn't that right?"

The girl blinked at him, and blushed at his sly smirk. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she defended.

"Oh nothing, nothing."

* * *

Link was no where to be found in the village. Actually, the moment he went out the door, InuYasha decided to forgo looking around the old fashioned way, and put his nose to the ground. On his trek, he did receive odd looks, but they were more from a brimming curiosity more than disgust or wariness. The people here seemed to have an odd lack of suspicion, not that he cared either way. His trail led him all the way to the entrance of Kakariko, and he walked the rest of the way down the stair case. He spotted him almost instantly the moment he entered the field. There was a shallow cliff hanging over the stream, supported by a worn stone pillar. The end was square and fenced off, almost looking unnatural. Ages ago this river might have been part of the cave InuYasha could see in the distance, but now merely served as a grassy viewing platform. The boy was up against the small fence, and InuYasha figured the kid must have been desperate for isolation, if he was by the water after what happened with Kagome. The platform was easy jumping height, but InuYasha decided it was probably best not to startle the kid anymore, and opted for crossing the bridge to go the long way around. When Link heard the sound of footsteps approaching, his stomach twisted in knots. He dried his face, and tried to calm his sobs, and managed to get his emotions somewhat back under control by the time the intruder approached. The boy kept his face down and sniffled, not looking up even when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Oh great," Navi scoffed. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Talking, obviously." he shot back, and he sat down on the fence post, crossing his arms and crossing one leg across his knee as the other draped over the fence.

"Right, because that's gone so well," she retorted and zoomed up to his face. "Just get lost before you make it worse dog-breath."

"Oi, shut up already, gnat! I'm here to talk to _him_, not _you_."

"This oughta be good," she muttered as she went down to hover on the boy's other side.

It was quiet at first, with only the sound of sniffling as Link tried to calm himself down. He drew his knees in and hugged them, wishing more than anything that the intruder would go away.

"Look," InuYasha finally started. "I'm not the strategist like Miroku, or the traveler like Sango. I don't understand people like Kagome, and even Shippou's more likeable around humans. So maybe they were able to figure this out when I didn't, but this is confusing the hell out of me, so maybe you can answer me this: Why the heck do you let Mido push you around?"

Link blinked a moment and glanced up in confusion.

"Mido's the leader," Navi huffed. "Duh."

"What did I say, gnat?" InuYasha snapped. "I'm talking to _him_. I want to hear _his_ reasons"

Link faltered and curled in on himself. "H-He's th…th-the l…luh-l-leader."

"But so what? He's all talk, and you've done ten times more stuff than he ever has." He scoffed as he looked up to the sky. "Believe me, I know appearances can be deceiving, but I can tell who's just blowing hot air and who the real opponents are. Just from looking at you two, I can tell you're the real fighter."

Link fiddled with his fingers, wiping at his eyes again, and fidgeted. "B-But I… c-ckk-can't fight him."

"I'm not saying you have to. I'm saying you shouldn't have to take his bullying. He walks all over you because you let him, not because he has any right to. You'll _never_ get any respect like that. _Tch_, trust me I know." his left hand went to the post and he leaned over. "If I had let even half of the insults thrown my way get to me, I wouldn't even be here right now."

This time Link was more than confused, and gawked at him. "But you're so str…stru- strong. W-Why would th-they ins-s-sult you?"

InuYasha glanced down at his wide-eyed and honestly baffled response. It took him a second to remember that there were no demons in this world, and that the boy had grown up in a child tribe anyway. He could not help the wry smile.

"This may be hard for you to understand, but I'm a _half_-demon. That means I'm both a demon, and a human. Not completely one, or the other." He looked away and focused on the forest off in the distance. "Humans fear me because I'm a demon, and demons hate me because I'm human. No matter who I'm with, I'm an outcast because of blood."

Navi jingled curiously. "But, wouldn't they see that you're only half? I mean, couldn't they feel comfortable around you because of the similarities? I would think you'd be pretty popular."

"It doesn't work that way. If it did, I'd probably be soft and living the easy life. Humans and demons alike can only see differences."

Navi lowered onto Link's shoulder. "Oh."

"Which is why I had to grow up and throw it all back in their faces. Sure, humans know to watch out for me but I can't tell you how many times demons had to come after me thinking I'd be an easy meal. But I was too damn stubborn to let them get the best of me. Which is exactly what you should be doing." He turned to him. "Come on, you'll rush up against monsters like they're nothing, so you're definitely not scared of anything, and I've been in battle, so I know how hard it is to think of anything when you're fighting. You're definitely not stupid." He crossed his arms again. "Tch, and if you're mouth won't cooperate with you, then just whip it into shape and learn to deal. If I can get my ears to finally work with me, then your mouth shouldn't be a problem."

Now both kokiri and fairy tilted their heads. "Your ears?"

"They have a mind of their own. They were real twitchy when I was a kid. They still do occasionally, but I managed to get them to hold still for the most part. Pain in the butt, most of the time."

There was not an answer right away, but InuYasha felt eyes on him, and turned to see a wide-eyed Link and Navi staring up at him.

"…What?"

"I wan-n-na see." He said simply.

The half-demon blinked. "I just told you I can't control them."

"Oh." but he still did not stop staring.

And InuYasha certainly could not control them. Even if he could, he probably wouldn't. But the intensity of the staring at his ears, and the nervousness of the scrutiny made him consciously try to suppress the motions. As a result, it made them a little more hyped, and him a little embarrassed.

"Oi, cut that out," he leaned away uncomfortably.

"What?" Navi sounded like she was about to laugh. "We're just looking."

"Well quit staring like that, it's weird."

"Ooh, big bad dog-demon afraid of a little staring?"

"I'm not _scared_, I just want a little space back."

"Oh come on, we're not hurting anything."

"Remarkable," Miroku murmured from his hiding spot. "He's actually managed to dispel the tension. Didn't think he had it in him."

"See?" Kagome whispered smugly from behind her tree. "I told you he'd be fine."

"What's most impressive is that he can actually manage to do it without really trying," Sango mused from just under Miroku's shoulder.

"He's just lucky," Shippou decided as he peered from above Kagome.

Miroku, Sango, and Kilala were crouching on the steps, peering around the corner of the passage to see the two conversing. Kagome had darted behind the tree close by, and pressed up against it as she peeked around the trunk, with Shippou standing on her shoulder and peering over her head to get a good look. And because the pair's backs was to them, the spies managed to go along and escape detection. The argument escalated slightly, but did not have the same spite it normally held, with Navi's teasing and InuYasha's increasing defensiveness, especially when Navi was flittering too close to his head. He really did look like he was cowering away. The sight was so ridiculous that Link giggled. InuYasha turned in surprise, and both ears twitched, making the boy snort and turn away to chuckle more. Navi laughed.

"Oh, how cute!" And she promptly lost it.

InuYasha blushed, and turned away to hide it.

Link's eyes had started watering again and he covered his mouth with his hands. "S-Sorry," came the boy's giggling apology.

Link's eyes were bright with merriment, as he wiped his face and his grin hid behind his hands. Despite that it was at his expense, InuYasha did not really feel offended about the laughter. The kid had stopped crying, at least. And it was not the same mischievous snickers of Shippou, this was the bubbly giggle of a child that had managed to find amusement. Plus, he already knew the kid looked up to him. His admiration might have been on par with Souta. That was why, instead of getting mad or embarrassed again, he smiled.

"Eh, don't worry about it," he put his hand on the capped head, bringing the child's attention up to him. "I meant what I said before. You've done a lot more than most people could hope to do in a lifetime. After what I've seen, at this point I would believe you if you told me Gohma was the size of a mountain. You're pretty impressive."

Link stared up at him, and Navi smiled approvingly, even if it was not seen.

"Hey," Shippou whined in disapproval. "How come he's being so nice to him? He never acts that nice to me."

"Well, that might have to do with your slight inclination to provoke him," Miroku pointed out.

At that moment, Sango stiffened when she felt a hand roaming down her back onto the curve of her rear. She whirled to slap the offender smartly on the cheek.

"You mean like _you_ do, Monk?" she stated dryly.

"Guys!" Kagome hissed.

Too late. InuYasha, Link and Navi all turned to see the guilty party by the corner.

"Oi, what are you guys doing there?" InuYasha barked. "Is it too much to ask for a little privacy around here?"

"Ah, we were just checking on you!" Kagome said quickly as she and the others stood. "You know, to make sure everything's all right."

"You mean _spying_?" He stood from his perch and scowled as the others darted back up the stairs for a hasty retreat. "Get back here, cowards!" He called, and jumped over the fence to the other side of the river. "Just wait 'til I get my hands on you!"

Navi sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" she giggled. "But, I gotta admit, they keep things exciting." She sighed again, this time a relieved release of chuckles. "I have to admit, these guys have really grown on me. I'm kinda glad we met up with them."

Link stood as well, his own giggles leaking out as he made the leap off the cliff as well and rolled to safety.

"I guess I was wrong about InuYasha, too. He's not such a bad guy." She jingled sharply, and turned to Link. "Don't tell him I said that, though. I still need to rag on him for being a knucklehead."

Link smiled a little to himself, and nodded. The smile disappeared when a disturbing thought interrupted his thinking. Once he got back, did the others still expect him to talk? And InuYasha thought he had thrown the bomb in the mouth on purpose, just like the others. He looked down as he walked. Just how far could their faith I him go? They probably would not still think so highly of him if they knew the truth.

* * *

True to form, the others actually were waiting when Link returned. Apparently their chase had managed to conclude in a reasonable amount of time. The conclusion could only be inferred by the sizeable lump on Shippou and Miroku's head. Link joined them at the far right wall. InuYasha and Kagome were farthest from him, both sitting across from each other. Shippou sat next to Kagome, and Miroku next to InuYasha, and Sango remained against the wall beside Miroku. As soon as Link joined them, the little cat demon trotted up to him, and mewled for attention. He smiled, and affectionately petted her. Sango was busy looking over her Hiraikotsu for any damages sustained during the fight, so paid her no mind. Her soft vibrating growl comforted him as he stroked her.

"Did she transform repeatedly in the cave?"

Sango's sudden voice almost startled the boy, and he nodded.

"That explains it, then." Sango mused. "Too many transformations in a short period of time make her feel sick. That was why she was having such trouble back there. I figured that must have been it when she didn't transform back until we reached the village again."

Link looked to the kitten sadly, and scooped her up to hug her to his chest. She leaned up and licked his chin, and he smiled and scratched behind her ears.

"My question still remains," Miroku reminded gently. "We're ready when you are."

Link rested his hand against her fur, and took another moment to compose himself.

"The Great Dek_ku _Tree as-_sked_ if I had c...c-_courage_ to lift the c-c...c...c-curse." The boy gulped nervously, and blinked away the tears building in his eyes. "B-But I felt cc-cold, and suh-s-scared like in the nuh-n-nnnightmares, I did-dn't want t-t-to. I didn't g..." he hiccupped slightly, and clenched his eyes shut as he twisted his mouth to form what he needed, "I didn't g-go in right away. If I... if I h-h-h-hadn't wuh-w-_waited_, and g-gone in like he first w-wanted me too, I c-cc-ccould have ss...s-saved him. H-he would have suh-ss-still been a...al-l-l-_live_..."

Navi had already sat upon his shoulder. Her light remained brightly burning, still keeping her form hidden. Link did not look up or open his eyes, but tried to keep his tears from falling. Now both secrets were out. So much for trying to impress them. Now after everything they probably thought even worse of him.

"Is that why you are so quick to rush to someone's aide?" Miroku ventured. "Are you afraid of losing someone else because of your hesitation?"

He said nothing, but nodded slowly. Kilala turned her head, and licked his little finger, and he absentmindedly stroked her fur.

"Well," Miroku crossed his arms and sighed. "That certainly explains a lot."

"I couldn't save my father."

Link peeked out hesitantly, confused as he looked down to the little fox demon plopped down on the floor.

"He died in a battle against a couple of demons that had been given the sacred jewel shards." Shippou was not looking at him, and seemed very subdued. "I wasn't strong enough to save him. I couldn't fight the Thunder Brothers at the time. At first I tried to get strong enough to avenge him. I tricked InuYasha and Kagome to try to steal their jewel shards."

The information surprised Link so much, he forgot about his attempt to keep his tears in check. He still did not get the big deal about those little crystals, but whatever they were must have been important too. Shippou had stolen from Kagome and InuYasha? But, weren't they friends?

"The Shikon no Tama," Miroku spoke up, "is a jewel that can grant the wish of anyone who touches it. But it was recently broken into many pieces. Now it acts as an amplifier for any demon, or human, that can find it, and will give them tremendous power."

Link nodded slowly. "So n-no duh-d-dark hearts should tou...t-t-_touch_ it."

"That's right." Miroku smiled encouragingly. "My, you catch on quick."

Link flushed, the compliment something new and foreign to him. He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes and looked down at Shippou, clearly wishing to hear more.

"Well, it didn't work, but they helped me anyway." Shippou assured. "but before I learned it was Naraku that had given Higen and Manten the jewel-shards, I thought it was my fault he died. I felt like if I had been stronger, and he didn't have to protect me, he might have been alive."

"But… they had th-tho-those jew...wel things, ruh-right? How could yu-you f... f...f-f," He scrunched his nose and twisted his mouth. "fight them?"

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking about that. I just wanted to avenge my father, and prove that I could fight for him. I was trying to forgive myself for not saving him."

The kokiri stared in dubious disbelief. Forgive himself? But, he had just said the other demons had killed his father. It was their fault, not his.

"Such feelings are natural." Miroku assured. "I remember when watching my own father die, I felt similar frustration."

Link's face dawned with a sort of empathy. He had felt it too? He watched, enraptured as the humble monk lifted his hand, clinking the blue rosary wrapped around the sleeve over his robe.

"Fifty years ago, my grandfather met a beautiful woman. However, the woman turned out to be a demon in disguise, none other than Naraku. Through his right hand, he placed a curse. A powerful void that sucks in anything in it's path. And curses the children of the bearer. Each first born son of my family's line shall be bestowed with this _gift_."

Navi squeaked and hid in Link's hat, which did not help much, since Link was taking a curious look and leaning forward to see.

"Watch where you point that thing!"

"Don't worry, these beads keep it sealed. Though even that will not work for long."

He lowered his hand, and the grave expression on his face almost made Link afraid to hear what came next. Almost.

"My Kazanna has aided me in battle many times, and has saved me on more than one occasion. However, the problem is that the void grows little by little over time. Eventually, it will swallow even the bearer of the curse. I had the privilege to witness this happen to my own father."

Swallow him? Link swallowed nervously, hardly breathing as he stared expectantly at the man.

"He had gone outside, when he knew the time had come. All I remember hearing was a noise at first, and howling wind." his lips flickered into a small humorous smile. "By the time I was outside, he had already sunk well into the ground. And if Mushin hadn't been there, I'd have joined him. All I could do was watch. He was literally right in front of me, but I was powerless to save him. And for the longest time, I wondered to myself if I was a little older at the time, if I had been training more, that I might have found a way to stave the curse. To delay it, to hold it off just a bit longer, to give us enough time to kill Naraku and lift the curse. But I learned soon enough it would not have made a difference. Even if I had found some way to weaken the curse, I was only delaying the inevitable. The result would have the same. Which is how _you_ must think of this. How long did you wait before undertaking the curse?"

Link fidgeted again at the sudden attention. "Al-lm-most all af-ftern-n-noon..."

"Had you said all week, I might have agreed with you. But was the Deku Tree not already under Queen Ghoma's influence for a long while before you entered?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Navi complained. "Even if he started earlier, the Deku Tree already knew what would happen."

"Did he seem to blame you?"

"N-No..."

And Sango surprised him by saying: "Link, what was the last thing he said to you? Do you remember?"

Link looked to the fairy, almost guiltily. "I s-should l-l... l-listen to N-_navi_."

"Which you at least do most of the time. Thank goodness." the fairy muttered.

"Anything else?"

"I-I..." he wavered under her intense gaze, suddenly felt very aware of the eyes on him, and his tiny motivation to speak promptly withered away. He looked down, blood of shame coloring his face.

Sango looked to him a little sadly, but kept a gentle smile of encouragement.

"Did he ever say he blamed you?"

He did not answer right away, but after a quite moment, he shook his head. From his other side, Kagome smiled softly at him.

"There, you see? It wasn't your fault, he never blamed you. He must have cared for you very much, and wouldn't have wanted for you to feel guilty."

"No parent would want that for his children," Sango said softly, but she was not looking at him. Only to the floor. "No matter the circumstances for his death."

Link looked up at her, a mixture of curiosity and confusion. What was a parent? A boy? Some kind of man? But were they not just talking about fathers? This whole thing was confusing him. That reminded him he'd have to ask what a "mother" was, and how it was InuYasha was stealing other people's blood to become "half" demon and human.

"So don't worry about it anymore," Shippou piped up. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Right. In fact, you've already gone out and done what he asked," Kagome pointed out. "You're the only one people seem to want to talk to anyway."

"Especially since technically he is the one her highness appointed as her messenger." Miroku sighed. "We are really just tag alongs trying to find a way back home."

One black-clad and feminine hand touched Link's shoulder, and the boy looked up at Sango questioningly.

"Don't be afraid to speak with us. We are traveling companions. It wouldn't do well if we kept secrets from each other."

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask," Miroku agreed.

"Yep!" Kagome chirped, and clapped her hands together excitedly. "We can tell you all about our world, if you like, and even mine. We can be good friends."

"Aren't you going to say anything, InuYasha?" Miroku asked in amusement. "You've been awful quiet for a while."

"Teh, I'm not about to go rag on a kid for feeling guilty about his old "guardian" dying. Even if I think it's stupid."

"InuYasha!" Kagome cried in alarm.

Link's wide eyes snapped to meet the half-demon's, and the man stared evenly back.

"You _should_ be focusing on the one that cursed him in the _first_ place."

And understanding dawned in the child's eyes. "Gannondorf."

"Beating yourself up over the past won't do you any good. You're better off fixing what went wrong. Make the _real_ one responsible pay for what he's done, before he does the same to anyone else."

It could happen again. A violent shudder ran through him. This faceless "Gannondorf" had killed his beloved guardian for the sake of the stone. He had sealed off a whole race's food supply. Just what else was this man capable of doing? And with this "Naraku" person helping him, he was even more dangerous, unless they could gather the stones first, and got to the Triforce before him. His hand clenched into a fist above Kilala, and his eyes blazed with newfound anger and resolve. They _would_ gather the stones first. No one else had to suffer at his hands.

"Both unexpectedly insightful, and appropriately wise, coming from you," came the cryptic statement from Miroku.

"Keh, I'm just telling him how it is." the demon scoffed. "We need him to be focused, since he's the one with the stones."

"Oh, come on, InuYasha," Kagome said crossly. "Just admit that you care about him."

"I never said I didn't, we just need him better."

Link reached out one hand, though felt unsure about his next move. "Uh..."

Though he had stopped himself, the move still seemed to catch the attention of the group, and everyone looked at him expectantly. He swallowed once, and tried not to look away.

"Th..." he moved his jaw out of nervous habit. "Th-thank you. Ev...v-v..._vry_one."

The house felt silence, and Link did not resist the urge to look down anymore. He scuffed his feet on the floor.

"No, thank _you_, Link." Miroku countered quietly. "For trusting us with the truth, before we did the same."

"Wait just a second," Navi spoke up, and flew up higher to be seen. "Okay, so I get why Miroku and Shippou would want to get back at Naraku, but what about the rest of you? And what was that whole thing about "my world" from Kagome, anyway? How'd you all end up together anyway? Just what _is_ your story?"

A collective groan went throughout the group, making Link tilt his head curiously.

"Well," Kagome scratched her cheek. "Can't say we didn't invite that."

"You may want to sit down for this," Miroku advised. "It is a bit of a long story."

And taking a skeptical glance to each other, Link lowered himself to the floor, and stretched his legs out, loosening his hold on Kilala, and the cat settled into his lap instead.

"Go ahead," Navi said. "We're used to them by now."

Long stories, at least. Neither of them were prepared for the convoluted tale that was the backstory for these wacky companions. The kokiri and his fairy stared wide-eyed at the group. Actually, wide-eyed and slack-jawed in Link's case. As each new detail unfolded, the pair became more and more flabbergasted at the tale told. It was so surreal, they could hardly believe it.

"So wait, let me make sure I have this all straight," Navi said dryly, and flew over to InuYasha, "So this whole thing basically starts with you. You fall in love, and actually want to use the "Shikkon Jewel" to turn human, but you think you're betrayed by your lover, and end up getting sealed to a tree for fifty years." She flew over to Kagome, "Fast forward about five-hundred years, and we find the reincarnation of the said lover, who gets sucked down into a well to fall _back_ into the past. You manage to find InuYasha, release him, and then have to run away from him anyway because he wants to steal back the "Shikkon Jewel" to become a demon instead. So you get these weird beads on him that keeps him from going after you since you can get him down in one word. You two travel together for a while, SOMEHOW manage to get the past lover Kiko to revive-"

"Kikyo," InuYasha corrected.

"Whatever, _Kikyo_, who still hates your guts enough to want to kill you, and ends up leaving you. You travel around together, come across Shippou, who tries to steal your shards, end up helping him, and go along your own merry little way." She flew over to Miroku. "So you come onto the scene next, stumble across them, and go to kidnap Kagome so you can take the Jewel Shards, since you thought InuYasha was keeping her hostage. She goes kamikaze on your ass, stops your deadly wind tunnel, makes amends, and all is well." She fluttered over to Sango. "So then sometime later, _you're_ on the scene, except to fight InuYasha to the death because you were tricked into thinking he was responsible for destroying your village, except that you already had a jewel shard and were using it to keep your body empowered. Fight goes on, InuYasha manages to beat you, but you all make amends and decide to stick together, and everything came out hunky-dory. At least until Naraku decided to play more twisted mind games and tried to use your brother Kohuku, against you, by bringing _him_ back from the dead."

"Kohaku," Sango corrected.

"Kohaku, right. Then Naraku, tells you to steal Tessaiga, and even when you do, he just tries to use you to "corrupt" the jewel, doesn't succeed, and runs away with Kohaku, and the others persuade you to join them. Am I missing anything, or is that about right?"

"Well, that does about sum it up," Sango conceded.

"So, that's how you all got together. What have you guys done _since_ then?"

"We might want to save that for another time," Kagome spoke up this time. "A lot has happened since then."

"We'd be here all day if we told everything," Shippou muttered.

The fairy looked at him, looked to the others, and looked back at Link.

"Okay, I understand why you're all so determined to get this guy, because he is seriously bad news." She paused before taking a deep breath. "But what the hell is _wrong_ with you people?" She finally snapped. "I mean, for crying out loud, is fighting a handshake in your world or something? For loves sake, it's like you guys can't make friends unless you try to take out each other's throats first!"

"Well, it might be more accurate to say that we like to make friends with our enemies." Miroku suggested. "Now you see why we were so confused with the suspicion from you and Link." He smiled jovially. "We thought things were actually progressing remarkably well with you."

"I'll say. Compared to how you treat each other, you were saints to him."

"It was kind of weird actually," Shippou admitted. "I got so used to fighting it almost felt wrong to have so many people at once."

"Maybe that's why we were still having trouble," Sango mused. "We didn't have the chance to get through all of our suspicions in one go."

"Well, technically speaking," Kagome spoke up. "Link and InuYasha did kind of attack each other when we first met. It's kind of like an initiation ceremony, isn't it?" Kagome realized, and took out the string from her blouse. "Here, you can try stealing them now if you want."

"Kagome, are you _crazy_?" InuYasha gawked. "Don't joke about something like that!"

"It's not like they're any good right now anyway," Kagome mumbled and looked at the jar with the simple crystals.

Link waved her off, and Navi caught on quickly. "That's okay, we're good. You can keep 'em. We'll just pretend we did."

"Sounds good." Kagome decided and tucked it back in.

"We could switch it up and steal his stones instead," Shippou suggested with a devious smirk.

Link jumped and held his sack protectively as Navi jingled. "Absolutely not!"

Kilala had to scamper off from the lap after the violent jump, and looked to him.

"Now now," Miroku soothed, "No one's stealing anything. I'm pretty sure we've agreed that we're on fair footing by now, right?"

"I guess," Shippou sighed heavily. "I still feel like he got off easy though."

"Kilala!" Sango shouted in alarm.

The kitten head butted the boy, and Link yelped in surprise as he thudded to the floor. He pushed himself back up and looked in confusion at the kitten holding a bag in her mouth. She turned and jumped out the open window. Link looked down at his belt and he and Navi gawked at the others.

"That cat just stole our bombs!"

The first reaction, of course, was surprise. Then Sango _grinned_.

"Well then, you better hurry and get them back, otherwise you'll never see them again."

The boy and fairy took one look at each other, before he jumped to his feet and raced out the door. InuYasha huffed.

"Great. Now Kilala's gone insane."

"Hey, wait for me!" Shippou called out, as he raced outside to watch.

The others decided: to hell with it, and got up to follow. This ought to be good.

The boy kept up the chase remarkably well. He had impressive stamina. Kilala's speed was not the real problem, it was the agility. She could dart in different directions in the blink of an eye. One time as they neared the well, he thought she would just dart around as usual. She actually stopped, and darted right between his running legs, nearly tripping him. He missed her when he made a grab, but righted himself. He looked up to the sound of children laughing, and saw the few people who had stopped to watch in amusement, but quickly focused back to the chase. The laughter was hard to ignore, since it was forcing his own lips into a smile.

"Kilala, pass it here!"

Shippou darted up beside the kitten, and took it from her to dart off down the stairs, and Link was quick to follow. Their chase lasted just a few more rounds, sprinting around the tree, and past the well again to run around the construction site a few times before Link finally touched his shoulder to signal the end of the chase. The second he did, both boys collapsed, panting up a storm after the hard run. They were on the other side of the village, near the look out tower in front of the gate to Death Mountain, putting them out of sight of the others.

"Man… what, a day…" Shippou panted as he lay flat on his back.

Link was doubled over, supporting himself on his knees. The bomb bag lay between them, neither in a real hurry to pick it back up again and get back to the others.

"Hey… Shippou?" Link panted.

Shippou abruptly sat up and looked questioningly up to him. "Yeah, Link?"

The boy looked around a moment, and lowered his voice as he knelt down. "Could you t…teach me m-m-_magic_?"

The kitsune blinked at the rather odd request. "You mean, teach you my demon fox magic?"

He nodded quickly, and Navi jingled.

"Wait, what?" she sounded as confused as Shippou. "Since when did you want to learn fox magic?"

"S-since the fair-r-r…. fairy said I-I had m-magic n-n-now. P-please?" the boy begged the kitsune.

Shippou got to his feet, and scratched his head unsurely. "Well, I don't know… I don't think humans can even _use_ demon magic. And besides," he put his hands on his hips. "To teach someone else magic takes a lot of time. I've been practicing for years and I still don't have everything perfect. Why should I take the time to teach you when we're on such an important mission?"

He had a point. What could he possibly give Shippou in exchange? As an inspired answer, Link promptly picked up the bomb bag, and thrust it to him.

"Here," he said urgently. "I'll t-t-teach you the…. the time… tim-m-m…. _timing_."

Shippou stared at the bomb bag, and the sincerity in Link's eyes, and promptly held out his hand, which Link gratefully shook.

"You've got yourself a deal!"

For a little while, Link and Shippou were starting to think this was an impossible endeavor. As Shippou practiced the timing formula Link taught him, he did a few practice swings with his sword to remember the feel of charging magic. First they tried to use Shippou's leaves, but then they exploded from the magic overload. After the second, Shippou demanded he find his own leaves. None of the leaves seemed right (or were even magical) so decided to try some seeds, once he found them while hacking away at the bushes. They were sturdier than the leaves, and he thought it glowed for a second when he concentrated. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be happening again. Shippou watched him a few moment seriously, trying to find if there was a way this could actually work, and wondering why it was not going through.

"Ah-ha!" Shippou fist-tapped his palm. "Of course, you don't have a battle cry!"

Link stared blankly.

"Of course. Whenever I use one of my awesome moves, I have a battle cry to go with it. Just like this:" He jumped high into the air, and pulled out his top from his vest pocket before releasing it right in front of Link. "Spinning Top!"

The kokiri jumped, but watched in awe as the giant thing spun around and around in front of him, towering above him. He watched as it shrunk and wobbled to a stop at his feet.

"Just like that," Shippou asserted, and landed proudly beside him, and picked up his toy again. "You need to be confident in what you're doing, enough to strike fear into your enemies."

Link nodded quickly, even as he looked to the seed with trepidation. He had to yell out the words? Oh no, this would be harder than he thought. What was he supposed to yell out?

"So, it's a spell, kind of?" Navi clarified.

"At least until he can focus enough on his own," Shippou assured. "It's all about concentration."

"Okay, let's keep it simple. How about… um, clone?"

"C-clone."

"Again. With feeling!"

"Clone."

"Good, now, concentrate!"

"Clone!"

They waited, and looked to the seed, but there was no change.

"Link," Shippou said seriously. "Do you feel awesome as you do this?"

Link looked down in shame, and shook his head no.

"Then you're not doing it right. You need something that'll keep you confident. We need a different battle cry. Now come on, let's think of ideas."

And so, the rest of the lessons consisted of awesome battle cries. Shippou and Navi both shot ideas off of each other, and Link tried them all out, trying to find one that made him feel "awesome". He found it in a word that was both sensible, and unfortunate, because it was made of a letter combination that was difficult for him to work through.

"Dupluh…dup-p-p." He held the seed tightly in one hand, and concentrated as hard as he could on that blasted word. "Dup-p-pli-c-c…"

"Ya know, it is getting late," Shippou pointed out. "Maybe we should get back to the others and try again tomorrow. Maybe they heard something about the third stone."

"Yeah, let's call it a day." Navi agreed.

Link deflated as he dropped his hand down. He scuffed the dirt a bit in frustration as he and Shippou walked side by side.

"Hey, don't feel too bad," Shippou comforted. "It's not like you could get it all the first day anyway, right?"

Link sighed and tossed the useless seed over his shoulder. Then stopped at the sound of a pop. All three turned, and their jaws dropped at what they saw. Shippou gaped in awe, Navi gasped, and Link cheered, for there, right where the seed had landed, stood his clone.

"Oh yeah…" Shippou stroked his chin thoughtfully. "He never actually let go of the seed, did he?"

"You mean he was supposed to throw it?" Navi jingled irritably. "Some teacher you are!"

"Hey, this is a first time for me, all right?" he defended. "I didn't even think it would actually work!"

Link leaped in joy, and in his rush of emotions, grabbed Shippou's hand, and shook it up and down vigorously, making him bob up and down.

"Okay, okay, I get the point!" Shippou pulled his tiny shoulder out of the excitable grasp, and sighed with relief from the escape. He hopped up to the clone, and studied it, still hardly believing what he was seeing. "Whoa… I can't believe you actually did it."

Link pivoted on his heel, and held up an extra seed as a celebratory jingle sounded for him.

"You've learned fox-demon magic!" Navi exclaimed. "To activate, take out a seed and press B to charge, then toss the seed where you want it to go! Right now you can only use one at a time."

Shippou suddenly paled, and hopped back, cringing from the clone in fear.

"D-Don't celebrate just yet," he warned. "I-I still think you need some lessons."

Navi took a closer look, promptly squeaked and dove into Link's hat. "Agreed!"

Link looked to the clone curiously, wondering why Shippou and Navi seemed so frightened of the wide, soulless eyes and toothy, doll like grin. He thought it looked just like him.

Well, he could practice a little later, he decided as he looked back up to the sky to check the daylight left. Kagome promised to teach him how to ride her bike.

"We're back," Kagome called into the building as she and Link returned.

"Welcome back," Miroku greeted from his perch by the corner.

"You've been gone a while." InuYasha with some surprise. "Haven't seen you all day."

"Oh, we were outside the village. I was teaching Link how to use my bike. You should have seen him!" She gushed, and mussed his cap and hair. "He's such a fast learner."

Link snickered and ducked away from her hand, blushing as he straightened it. He was learning all sorts of new things today.

"That's true," Shippou conceded. "He's better than InuYasha, at least."

"Shut up!" he barked. "Running's faster anyway!"

"Sure," Shippou smirked. "You're just saying that 'cuz you can't learn." _Whap_! "OW!" he cradled his head, sniffing and bringing on the tears. "You jerk!"

"Where's Sango?" Kagome asked curiously. The demon slayer weapons remained docilely by the corner where she had slept last night, but remained ownerless. "Is she still not back yet?"

"Kagome!" Shippou whined to remind her of the dire situation.

"Ah, right, right, InuYasha, sit boy."

The sudden thud made Link wince and he and Navi looked over to InuYasha. Shippou's tears vanished and he smirked. The boy looked over curiously and took a few steps to examine him. He blinked at the glowing beads. He had never really gotten a good look at them in effect before. He leaned down, just as InuYasha peeled his face from the floor.

"Just wait 'til I get my hands on you…" he ground out, then blinked at the feeling of a digit pushing against his head.

"You know, I've never gotten the chance to see this close up," Navi realized. She fluttered around him, and stopped to look at the glowing purple beads. "Huh, looks like it's got you good."

Link pushed against his head another moment, then poked his arm, looked at his hands, and examined them dubiously.

"Do you _mind_?"

What was up with his hand positions? The boy tucked his middle fingers to his palm, contemplated them a moment, then tucked his thumbs over them as well. He held them up by his head a moment, and tried to mimic the half-demon's growl.

"Oh, how cute!" Kagome gushed, and mussed his cap again. "Look at you, so mean and ferocious!" she said in a baby voice.

Link scrunched his nose and pouted before straightening his cap again. Well, so much for that.

"So what did you find, Miroku?" Kagome asked. "Any more luck?"

"Nothing of immediate use, just rumors."

Link glanced to the corner where Sango's weapons lay. Maybe he could go out to find her, and boast of his newfound skills. Or at least get her back for tonight. The others did not seem any closer to finding the stone anyway.

Asking around eventually pointed him in the right direction, and the boy and fairy found themselves heading for the back of the village. Link noticed that there seemed to be gathering storm clouds in the distance. A rickety wood fence greeted him, with an arch over the entrance that read: "Kakariko Graveyard". It did not seem like a very pleasant place to be, decided Link. The smoky gray and black covered the sky, and lengthened and darkened the shadows. The oddly cut and engraved square gray stones made the place even more dreary. He ignored the sign to his right, and followed Navi to the first engraved stone that greeted him. It was wider than the others, with the royal crest at the very top. He left the soggy grass, and walked across the patchwork cobblestone road. Each rounded square was of a various size, and were blackened by age. Link ignored the chill he got from this place and read the stone under Navi's direction.

R.I.P

Here lie the souls of those who swore fealty to the Royal family of Hyrule. The Shiekah, gaurdians of the Royal Family, and founders of Kakariko, watch over these spirits in their eternal slumber.

Just like Impa. Wait, then there were "Shiekah" in here? In an eternal slumber? The words were strange to him, but Link decided not to dwell on them. He had someone to look for, after all. He ran down the black stone road and turned the sharp corners as he moved further away from the entrance. He ignored the brief bits of color from the butterflies curiously fluttering about, and the single patch of flowers in front of one of the strange giant stones, and finally spotted the telltale sign of pink and green at the far end of the graveyard. He had to go around the weak fence, then jogged the rest of the way to meet her, at first not really noticing the sprinkle of rain. He and Navi almost jumped when the sudden flash and clap of thunder warned them of the weather change. When Link finally stopped just behind Sango, the storm pelted them, and lighting and thunder spiced the storm regularly. The girl, however, did not seem to take notice of them at first, and remained where she stood, just below the Royal Crest inscribed in the floor, and staring fixatedly on the giant tomb erected before her. She was dripping, and her clothes obviously soaked through, but the chill did not seem to affect her at all.

"Sango!" Navi jingled in alarm. "You're soaking wet! What are you doing out here, you'll catch a cold!"

She jumped, startled, and looked to the newcomers. "Link, Navi, I didn't hear you approach. Sorry, I had just gotten to thinking. All of the talking earlier dug up old wounds and I wanted to be alone for a while."

"Oh." Navi slowed, and quieted. "I'm sorry you had to do that."

"It wasn't your fault. And you had a right to know. Like I said, we're traveling companions. We can't keep such important things from each other."

"Come on, let's get you back to the others. You need to dry and warm up."

"You're right." But the woman paused as she looked at them, and glanced down. "Link, I owe you an apology."

The boy blinked.

"Earlier, when we first found you outside the town walls, you seemed so helpless. You were just a boy to me, overwhelmed by the Stalchildren. I didn't know what you were capable of, or how experienced you actually were, but you've proved yourself many times. You're a fighter, just like Kohaku." She smiled mirthlessly. "But you're both very, very different. I was just scared of seeing another child die needlessly in front of me, and before I knew it, I started treating you like someone planning on being a demon slayer. It made me too harsh on you. I hope you can forgive me."

Link looked to hollow smile, before taking a few cautious steps forward. When he was right in front of her, he offered an easy smile. Her smile grew just a little bit in return.

"Thank you. You're kind," she said as she looked back to the gravestone.

It was larger than the others, and was an even larger cut than the informational one near the fence opening. The royal crest was engraved at the top of a list of names transcribed in an ancient language, and Sango looked at it as though trying to read it. Link's smile dropped, seeing her heavy mood. He wished there was some way to cheer her up.

"Um, sorry for interrupting, but," Navi flittered nervously, and lowered her voice in her hesitance, "Sango… where is Kohaku now?"

Link looked to Navi in alarm. He had never even thought to ask. Sure, she said that Naraku had gotten a hold of him, but he had assumed that they had gotten him back. Though come to think of it, that meant he would have been here, then. And from the sudden drop in Sango's own smile, he already dreaded the answer.

"Kohaku is… still with Naraku." she said quietly. "Under his control."

Navi gasped quietly, and Link stared wide-eyed and horrified.

"It's all right," the girl continued. "He doesn't remember. At least, as long as Naraku has him, he doesn't have to remember everything. It just wouldn't be fair if he had to suffer more than he already has."

Navi jingled, and there was an awkward silence before she braved the waters. "We'll help, Sango."

The girl looked to them. "You will?"

"Well, sure. I mean, we're fighting Naraku as much as Gannondorf now, so we might as well do what we can. Well, okay, I don't know if we'll find a way to get to your world, but we'll try. Right, Link?"

The boy nodded vigorously, and Sango gave a wry, humored smile.

"Thank you," she said. "I'll need all the help I can get."

"Yep. Don't you worry, we'll get your brother back."

"I hope so. For both our sakes." She glanced around the cemetery with some surprise. "How long have I been here? It's already so late."

"Well, it's past sun down. You've been here all day."

"Have I? I see. I don't know what came over me. I came exploring and to pay my respects, and before I realized it I was reminiscing about everything."

"Um…" Link tried.

Both Sango and Navi honed in instantly on him.

"Wh-What is this p-p-place?"

"You really don't know?" Sango asked in surprise. "It's a graveyard. It's where people can bury their loved ones, so that they can rest after death. Although…" she looked back at the giant tombstone. "To be honest, this place feels strange to me. Restless. Though maybe it's my own uncertainties. Maybe I need to rest some more." She murmured to herself as she turned and headed down the path. "Are you coming?"

"Right behind you," Navi assured.

Link looked after the woman, and glanced back to the tomb, suddenly solemner. Eternal slumber was death. A place to bury loved ones. That meant many "loved ones" of the Shiekah were here, but this place was dark and scary. If he ever died, he never wanted to go to a place like this. Then again, what about a tree? There was no such place. Never such a place. His resting place was in the grove deep in the woods.

The kokiri's eyes glazed over. His own disposition darkened. He remembered that moment. He remembered it so clearly it was almost impossible to imagine it had even been a few days. The moment where the light literally drained out of the guardian tree, taking all of the magic, and life, and knowledge with it had awakened something deep inside him. Just remembering it made him almost shiver. It was never easy to think of, and now, with no battles or people to distract him, it was even more crippling, in this dark and cold place.

Gone. Gone before his eyes, despite everything he tried to do to save him. The mighty and powerful tree proved to be too weak to even fight against the curse. Not as invincible as he had grown to believe. The Great Deku Tree had always been there. He was _supposed_ to always be there. Just as certain as the sun rose and set every day. It rattled something in him he could not explain. Not even the sight of Gohma herself had left him so terrified. He would easily face Dodongo again, if he had to choose between that and watching the light drain again. He remembered that shock, that sense of stunned disbelief. He could not tear his eyes away in those first few steps of retreat, not until he forced himself to turn around, and make a mad dash for the village, away from the grove, away from the reminder of his failure, away from the corpse of his guardian staring down with those lifeless eyes.

"Hey!"

Link jumped, startled, and looked up to Navi.

"Come on, get a grip, would you? Mercy, now I see why Sango was in here for so long. This place really does a number on a person."

Link swallowed once. Sango.

He felt this terrible after losing his father right before his eyes. How would he felt if he lost his whole _village_?

Just the thought of seeing every single happy little body drop dead to the floor was enough to rattle him again. Even if Mido was lost, he would just feel even worse. And if he lost Saria?

Saria. He wouldn't be able to stand it. Suddenly his imagination warped the story. If Saria had been forced under control, whether by Gannondorf, or Naraku, and somehow forced to kill everyone, and then forget everything, how would that be? If she forgot about _him_?

It was only in that context he was able to fully understand Sango's predicament. Saria was his best friend, the closest thing he could have to a sibling. If he had to watch her under control, had to fight her, it would kill him. He quickly opened his pouch, and pulled out the small, clay instrument from it's pocket. He closed his eyes and cradled it to his breast bone, as something solid to hold onto, and remind him that his dear friend was safe.

Only then was he able to fully scope the destruction Naraku had caused. Shippou's father died because of the jewel shard given to the thunder brothers. Miroku's family was cursed to suffer because of Naraku. Even InuYasha had been prey to Naraku's trickery, losing someone he loved. Link did not know what a "lover" was, but he knew it had to be someone important. Naraku did all of this. And Gannondorf was getting help from this evil demon-man, on top of his own terrible deeds.

No more. Navi's impromptu promise to Sango quickly flared into an oath for everyone. No one else was going to suffer. They would find the stones, get to the Triforce, and keep this land from Gannondorf's evil clutches, and he would help his friends defeat Naraku once and for all. He swore on this very ocarina given to him, that he would not let anything else happen to them. He refused to watch someone else he cared about die.

He opened his eyes, and looked at his ocarina, thinking back to his time in the forest. Everything was certainly a lot simpler back then. The polished clay quickly beaded with water, and lighting flashed above him, drawing the shadow into an imaginary crack over the surface.

It felt like ages since he had last seen Saria. Talking to her now seemed like a good idea.

* * *

Okay guys, love you all, though I'll stop here.

Now, you all basically now how this will go. Link talks to Saria, she tells him how The Great Deku Tree told her about the Zora's Sapphire in the Zora's domain up the river, and then he makes it up there, gets buddy buddy with the Zora, and eventually gets the stone. (Well, he would also play Zelda's lullaby and face the redead in the tomb, but that's not actually plot necessary, is it?)

I've decided to skip Zora's domain. Not because I can't write it, but because you all know that I take forever to update this, and I'm sure by now you're all impatient to see what happens when that sword finally comes out of the stone. Am I right? And the truth is, I'm actually really excited for the next arc of the story too. I know I take forever, but it's not for lack of interest, I promise.

So, I figure I'll just skip ahead to the juicier bits, and go to the night right after they receive the sapphire, so that we start off at a good place, and everyone is hunky-dory. I'll have a very brief summary in the beginning of the next chapter, just to get more details straight, but really, I think I can safely say that character relationships and bonds have been properly established by now, no? Good! See you next time!


	14. Divide and Conquer

Okay guys, I'm back with the next chapter, which will get that damn sword out of the stone, and get the REAL plot going. Sound good? Let's go!

* * *

"Oh no," Kagome said. "The bridge is already closing!"

"We're never going to make it!" Shippou lamented.

Even as everyone sprinted in their valiant attempts to reach the walls before nightfall, the wolf's howl mourned the death of the day, and the clink-clank of the chains warned of pulling up the drawbridge.

"Wait, over there!" Miroku pointed to a structure off to their left. "Maybe we can avoid the stalchildren if we seek shelter in there!"

They changed directions and darted through the wood archway just as the churning of soft earth alerted them to followers. They did not slow down until they were well inside the complex, and the sounds of digging went silent. When deemed safe, the travelers slowed to a stop and breathed out a collective sigh of relief.

"So much for getting them back tonight," InuYasha muttered as he adjusted his robe. "That's what we get for doing things 'diplomatically'."

"I think things turned out well, all things considering," Miroku said. "Link and Shippou still managed to get the sapphire for our efforts."

Shippou grimaced and shuddered in remembrance. "Don't remind me."

"And the Zora still like us," Kagome added. "We should at least be able to leave on good terms, right?"

"You mean they still like _you_." InuYasha 'tch'ed. "I swear, I thought they were gonna make you grow gills and become one of them."

"I told you, the scale doesn't actually grow gills! They just thought I was a good swimmer. It's not my fault they appreciated my skills."

"I'm just glad we got out of there when we did." Sango stroked the kitten perched atop her shoulder. "Kilala was restless around all that water."

She mewled and rubbed into the hand.

"Either way, we certainly do owe Saria for the information," Miroku glanced down to Link. "I trust your visit with her after we left the domain went well?"

He grinned and nodded emphatically.

"Still wanted to meet her," Shippou scuffed his foot on the floor. "I wanted to meet who was playing."

"Yeah, that's too bad." Navi bobbed up in her version of a shrug. "You couldn't swim that deep, it couldn't be helped."

"But you both still need another bath," InuYasha huffed and covered his nose with his sleeve. "You still reek of fish."

Both boys looked at each other and shuffled self-consciously. It was not _their_ fault they were too light to stay grounded when Lord Jabu-Jabu sucked them in.

"Where are we, anyway?" Kagome looked around in curiosity.

Sango had taken a few steps ahead, and stopped when she could see past the two buildings on either side of them. "I think… we're on a farm."

The steady clip clop of hooves and echoed inside of the complex, and a cow's impatient mooing blared through the open vents in the building to their right. The odor of musty hay, animal, and dung assaulted them from all around.

"Should have figured that out from the smells," InuYasha said to himself. "No matter what world you're in, an animal still smells like an animal."

The others went silent when they heard a melody. A soft, sweet voice lilting through the night guided them to the corral, where they met a familiar face.

"Oh! It's the fairy boy again." She turned to InuYasha suddenly, and perked up. "Hello mister demon."

His brow twitched. "The name's InuYasha."

"How did you like the castle, did you ever get inside?"

"No, but we got what we needed."

"Did you see the princess?" She giggled at the outlandish thought. "Dad thankfully woke up and came back right after you went in. Maybe you're my good luck charm. He's in the house right now, taking care of the cuccoos."

"Really?" Miroku asked. "In that case, would he mind speaking with us about us staying here?"

"Sure, go ahead," she said easily. "Oh yeah, I have to introduce you to my friend! She's this horse, her name is Epona. Isn't she cute?"

Link had stepped forward curiously, never having seen a horse before. The others decided to let Link have his time with his friend, and left the corral together to search for the Ranch owner. Link looked curiously to the colt, and reached a hand out to say hello. Only to have the horse bolt the moment he reached out, making him look after her in confusion.

"It seems like Epona is afraid of you, Fairy Boy…" Malon observed curiously, just before she started humming her song again.

Link pouted as he looked after the running horse. He did not mean to be scary. That was InuYasha's department.

"That's a pretty song," Navi noted.

"Thank you," the girl glowed. "My mother wrote it. Want to sing together?"

Link looked horrified.

"Erm," Navi flittered. "Singing's not really his thing. He's more of a player than a singer."

"Oh?" Malon looked curiously. "What do you play?"

Link shuffled in his pack, until he brought out the fairy ocarina.

"Oh, cute ocarina! Are you going to play with that?"

Link figured there was no harm. Plus, it was always nice to get new songs. So he nodded.

"All right, follow me."

Meanwhile, with the others, the talk with Talon had been brief exchange, more of a series of grunts for his part, but he gave them permission nonetheless. (So they assumed. It was a little difficult to tell, but Miroku was absolutely convinced that it was confirmation. At least he had fallen out of the habit of "evil spirits plaguing your house" while they were here.) They walked upstairs to see the room available, but only saw two beds, presumably for the people already here.

"Tch, I'd never be able to sleep with all this racket anyway," InuYasha complained. "Why the heck does he keep those things inside?"

"It's just as well," Miroku sighed. "To be honest, I'd feel a bit melancholy to be trying to sleep right now. This might very well be our last night here."

The revelation was like a curtain drawn shut.

"Well, when you put it like that," Kagome said softly, "It seems like a bad idea to try to sleep now."

"How so?" InuYasha asked. "We have to get back to our world. We knew this would happen."

"I know, but," Kagome fidgeted, "it's a whole other world. We wouldn't be able to see them then."

"With the others, we could see them, if we really wanted to," Sango reminded. "In this case, once we leave, we leave for good."

Shippou lowered his eyes. "It's not fair. Now we're gonna miss them."

"It's selfish to say, but I find myself hoping they'd miss us as well." Miroku admitted. "But this does not have to be a sad occasion. Once we prevent Gannondorf's uprising and find Naraku's influence, we will be able to part in good spirits, as we have for our past acquaintances."

"It'll just be harder," the demon slayer petted the feline meaningfully. "They became as much a part of our group as we were."

"Different ends, same means." InuYasha he sighed quickly as he crossed his arms. "They had the same interests we did."

"This is…" Kagome lowered her eyes. "This is going to be really hard, isn't it?"

"I think it is." Sango murmured. "This place was really starting to grow on me."

"In some ways, me as well." Miroku admitted. "It was almost a breath of fresh air, to worry about something else for a while."

"I don't see how it was any different," InuYasha huffed. "In our world, it's the Shikkon no Tama. In this world, it was the stones. No matter where we go, we're always going after jewels."

The observation made Miroku laugh. "I suppose you're right. We seem to be treasure protectors wherever we go."

Sango chuckled as well, despite herself. "Should we say that as our title, to the next world we wind up in?"

"Perhaps," Miroku said lightly. "We'll probably be welcomed much more easily."

Shippou kicked the floor, not feeling the cheer. "Still. I kind of wish we had a little more time here."

"Oh, come on now," Kagome comforted. "Let's try not to be sad, and try to leave happy. Who knows, maybe we will get one more night here. The only thing we can do now is enjoy what time we have left."

"Kagome's right." Miroku smiled. "Let's get through tonight with a smile. For their sakes, as well as ours."

When Link finally learned the melody Malon taught to him, he looked in bewilderment at the instrument. The Ocarina was doing it again, sparkling with a mysterious magic the song itself seemed to possess. He lowered it and held the treasure close to his breast, renewing his silent vow of help and protection, not realizing the flight of a guiding bird that flew mournfully over the ranch.

When he joined the others in the house, the merry man Shippou was speaking with laughed heartily.

"Wanna find my super cuccoos? If you win, I'll give you something nice."

"Really?" Shippou asked excitedly. "Like what?"

He laughed again. "Well, you'll have to win and find out."

"How about it, Link?" Shippou grinned cheekily. "One who finds them the fastest gets the prize. Sound good?"

Link nodded and grinned right back. "I'm gonna w-w-…_win_."

"We'll just see about that. I'll let you go first, since I'm such a good friend, and you probably need a head start."

"You're gonna reg… re_gr_et saying that."

"Ready? Go!"

And without another word, the three cuckoos that had flanked Talon flew out to the clucking, squawking, molting, flapping mess of cucoos in the farm house.

"You can do it, Link!" Kagome cheered.

"Kagome!" Shippou complained.

"Oh don't worry; I'll cheer for you too."

"Have fun," InuYasha turned promptly around and strolled out. "Too much of a racket in here."

"Actually, I think I'm with InuYasha on this one," Sango admitted. "I'd rather be outside. We'll meet up with you later."

"You three have fun now," Miroku cheered.

Link paid them no heed, focusing on capturing those evasive little cucoos. Once the three closed the door behind them, Sango smiled.

"I'm glad to see Link and Shippou getting along better now."

"Indeed." His smile turned gentler. "It seems their time together was beneficial. It's good to hear him talking a little more. Though I suppose we really have InuYasha to thank for that."

He blushed at the mention and scoffed. "I just told him what he needed to hear, that's all. Anyone could have done that."

"Yes, but it did mean more coming from you. I'm sure he will carry the memory very close to his heart for the rest of his life, even when we leave."

Sango's smile faltered. "Do you… really think gathering the stones will help send us home?"

"If nothing else, it will get us closer to Gannondorf and Naraku and find a way home. Either way, I think we made the right choice staying awake."

The winner of the match was, unfortunately, Link. Not because he was faster, but because he cheated and used his new technique, and Talon would not let Shippou try again and do the same. But a kitsune was always up for a few tricks, and Link's stunt gave him an idea for a prank that cheered him up fairly quickly. Kagome warned them not to take it too far, and Navi claimed she would watch out for them, but she still felt better coming out to watch, just in case.

Sango and Miroku were in the horse corral, speaking with Malon and looking at the happy and cooperative steeds. InuYasha remained on the outskirts of the field. He propped himself up against the wall by the entrance to give himself some time to think. He glanced over when Link walked in front of him, and stopped to look at him.

"Hey." InuYasha greeted. "Finished with your game?"

Link did not answer. He just stared down at InuYasha, almost unblinkingly. It made him uneasy.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

Still no answer. Then, Link tugged down his lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue. InuYasha gawked.

"_Huh_?"

Link turned it into a raspberry, just before he reached over and tugged one of InuYasha's ears.

"Ow, ow, ow- quite that!" he barked and bopped him over the head. "What's your deal all of a sudden?"

He froze when the image of Link vanished in a puff of smoke. Shippou popped out from around the corner.

"InuYasha, I can't believe you! You broke Link!"

"Just what sort of idiot do you take me for?" He snapped back. "I know it was just another of your stupid illusions. Which means you are so dead!"

"But I didn't do it, honest!" Shippou exclaimed.

It was just then that a curious Link peeked around the building corner. He walked right beside InuYasha and looked back and forth between the arguing demons.

"Please, Link isn't nearly as annoying as you." InuYasha huffed. "If he was, I wouldn't be able to stand him as-"

He stopped when he felt a tug on his belt, but by the time he looked down, his pants were already at his ankles. At least his robes were long enough to reach his thighs. Sango gaped and covered her eyes anyway, out of respect to her friend, and Kagome blushed brilliantly before covering her face, but Miroku only gawked.

"Did he really just do what I think he just did?" He asked in a sort of awed and stunned disbelief.

"You brat!" InuYasha barked. He pulled his pants back up and tied the bow tightly back around, but it was sloppy in his haste. "Get back here!"

He dashed right after him, but not before giving Shippou a good whack over the head, and discovering the illusion did not disappear. Kagome and Sango peeked out from under their hands to see if it was safe. A third Link appeared from where he had been hiding behind the wall and Navi fluttered around excitedly.

"So, part three?"

"Part three." Shippou affirmed.

The onlookers watched as copy-Link led an irate InuYasha in a chase around the corral fence. When the pair passed by Shippou again, Link ran after them, InuYasha too focused on the clone to notice. The half demon finally reached him, and made him disappear with a good whack to the head. Right when the smoke vanished, the third Link jumped on his back.

"Hya!" he shouted.

"What the- I'm not a damn horse!" he shouted.

This time, the others could not help but laugh as the demon spun around in circles to try to dislodge the overexcited kokiri. Navi giggled as she jingled and bounced around.

"Just wait until I get my hands on you!" He shouted.

Link held on with his knees, and hands on his shoulders. He leaned and kept away from the claws that reached for him, ducking just out of his reach. He grinned the whole time, a stark contrast from InuYasha's annoyed and determined expression. He threw up his arms with a shout of "faster". Link yelped suddenly when a hand clamped around his ankle yanked him forward. He blinked slightly with disorientation as he looked upside down at InuYasha.

"Guess you didn't see that coming, did ya?"

His eyebrow twitched, just before he raised the child up a little more, and made an uppercut to his head. Link flinched and held his head, even as InuYasha flipped him over and plopped him on the ground. He stomped away without another word, and Link rubbed his head as he watched him go. Navi snickered as she neared him.

"You knew that was coming, didn't you?"

Link nodded, and shrugged as he smiled in resign.

"Was it worth it?"

His smile turned into a grin. "Def-f-_fin_itely!"

A tiny mewl made him look over. Kilala tilted her head curiously, and he reached out his hand. She nuzzled under his palm, and he picked her up and brought her to his chest. She reached up to nuzzle under his chin and he giggled as he scratched behind her ears.

"Miroku…" Sango murmured from the fence as they watched. "Do you think they'll be all right?"

"Link has proven himself a capable fighter on more than one occasion."

"That's not what I meant. After we leave, will they be traveling all on their own?"

"Well, after we manage to stop the threat here, I imagine he will return to the forest. After being named a hero, I doubt he will still have any problems. The other Kokiri are fond of him. I'm sure Navi will keep a good eye out for him."

"I suppose that's true. I guess I'm worrying over nothing."

"Sango," the man reached out to put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's good for you to worry. We are all concerned for each other. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're right again, Miroku." She sighed a little, and smiled fondly at Kilala tormenting Navi again, making Link snigger almost nonstop. "You're always good to have-"

She arched forward, and went rigid at a very familiar sensation running down her back and over her rear.

"Miroku!" she whirled and slapped him hard. "Why can't you be serious for one minute?"

Link jumped and the three looked up from their game to watch Sango stomp off. Navi muttered in aggravation, while Link just gaped wide-eyed. Kilala licked his finger and nuzzled his hand impatiently to pay attention to her again. Link went back to petting her, starting to have second thoughts about his plan. But after a few more minutes of inner pep talk, he decided he had already come this far. He might as well do it while he had a chance.

"Sango? Can we g-go fl-l-lying on Ki…ki…lala?"

Link was fidgeting and had his eyes averted as the woman looked down at him.

"I don't see why not. We have a little while before sunrise. Do you mind, Kilala?"

She mewled her consent from the boy's arms.

"Well then, go right ahead."

But Link did not hurry right outside.

"Is something the matter?"

"I… I m-m-meant with y-y… _you_."

Everyone blinked at his statement, and he felt his cheeks burn at the attention.

"…Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you meant with Navi."

"No," the fairy muttered, and glided back and forth in her version of pacing. "He said he wanted me to stay here."

"Oh? How come?"

"I…" he swallowed and plowed on. "I wanna t-try mys-s-self."

"I see. Of course, I'll be right there."

After Sango had fetched her Hiraikotsu, Kilala transformed and sent Navi fleeing into the house. The boy brought out his map, looked at the compass, and pointed in the direction he wanted to go. Even before they took off, his heart raced with the thrill of the ride when Sango used her free arm to wrap around his middle after she climbed behind him. He could definitely get used to this.

In the sky, there was no worry about the Stalchildren chasing them down and tearing them to shreds. In the sky, the moon was giant and round and breathtaking in its glory, brightening the land below. In the sky, Sango and Link became masters of the silent world, with Kilala as their fiery chariot as they sailed over the field.

"Wow…" Sango breathed. "What a view."

In the sky, Link smiled a little sheepishly, already feeling free.

The moon and stars reflected on Lake Hylia's surface like a giant mirror. The border of grass was pale blue-silver, and the shadows were mercifully short because of the angle of the light. Two buildings of unknown purposes threw off the secluded mood, but their dark windows promised no interruptions. At first, Link had been worried about bringing her here when it was not day time, but he thanked his lucky stars that she seemed happy with it just the same. He just wished that she knew how to swim like Kagome, he would have had a lot of fun with her down there too. He leaned over the furry head and pointed to the tiny island in the middle of the giant mirror.

"You want to land down there? All right, take us down, Kilala."

With a slight tilt she complied, bounding to the piece of land with a single tree.

"Oh, what's taking so long?" Navi grumbled, and flit back and forth in irritation. "I shouldn't have listened to him. I can't believe I actually let him go off on his own like that. What if they run into some stalchildren on their way?"

"Navi, they're going for a flight on Kilala, high out of range of any stalchildren." Miroku reminded. "Besides, even if they did encounter anything, both Sango and Link can handle themselves. Worst case scenario is that they find themselves overwhelmed and retreat on Kilala back here. No harm, no foul."

"I know, I know, it's just… he looked really desperate, and I felt bad saying no, but I'm supposed to stick with him no matter what. And the way he's been acting kind of worries me…"

"How so?"

"Well, when we went to go see Saria, he started asking me all these weird questions about the outside world and Hylians. Stuff about family and marriage, things like that. I think you guys got him to start thinking about it."

"Well, he has an ever curious mind. It was only inevitable he would want to start asking."

"Yeah, it's just…" Navi flittered about nervously as she wondered about the sudden complications of this. Kokiri never had feelings of romantic interest, they emotionally never grew to that point. What had been the change with Link? Was it his exposure to the outside world? His fighting that had matured him to a level beyond most kokiri? The mystery did not sit well with her, and she wished the Deku tree could confer with her and try to shed light on this. She did not know how this would affect him once he returned to the forest. "…bah, never mind, I'm thinking too hard on this."

"If you ask me," InuYasha cut-in. "He'll probably do better _without_ the annoying little firefly distracting him with her stupid little "Hey, listen!" every minute."

"I do not! Only if he's getting sidetracked! If anyone's distracting, it's a certain loud-mouthed dogbreath that goes charging into everything without a second thought!"

"Hey, my charging saved your sorry butt more than once, how about showing a little gratitude!"

Navi grumbled. "I guess you're right about that." She flew across the room. "Kagome, thank you so much for being there for us when we needed it. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Oh will you two knock it off?" Kagome huffed. "Honestly, you're not helping anyone."

"S/He started it!" Came the protest.

Shippou sighed. "Here it comes. Hope Link and Sango get back soon."

"As if I can help it!" InuYasha yelled. "Who wouldn't be aggravated by someone like you?"

"Oh, like you're much better! I can't even stand to look at you without getting annoyed!"

"Funny, I couldn't have said it better myself. Maybe we just shouldn't look at each other then."

"Maybe we shouldn't!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They promptly turned away from each other, leaving only the sound of the cuccoos clucking in the house. The stubborn silence lasted for almost ten seconds. Then Navi sniffled. InuYasha turned to her in confusion.

"I'm gonna miss you!" she wailed. "Who else am I going to bicker with? Link's no fun, he just goes along with everything I say. I need someone to pick on!"

InuYasha was stunned, disturbed, and a little wary. He looked to the others, and only saw Kagome waving to urge him on. He sighed and admitted begrudgingly: "Yeah, I'm going to miss you too."

She wailed and suddenly flew to InuYasha, hugging his face. He stiffened, looking for support at the others, and finding none. So he raised a hand, thought better of it, and awkwardly pat her back with his finger. She quieted down some, with the occasional hiccup. This felt sort of nice… then she backed away.

"Thanks," she said bashfully, before patting his cheek and fluttering off.

"What was that all about?" He asked in confusion, but the others had no answers.

Sango slipped off first, with Link down right after her. Kilala stepped forward and shrunk to her smaller size, and stretched out her hindquarters.

"It really is lovely out here." Sango murmured. "Thank you, Link. For inviting me out."

The boy swallowed. "You're welcome. Sango? D-do you l…l-like me?"

"Of course, I'm very fond of you. After all this time, how could you still need to ask me that? We're all friends now, aren't we?"

"Th-that's not… what I meant…"

She tilted her head slightly. "Oh? How did you mean?"

He winced, knowing his mouth would fail him yet again. Instead, Link fished out something from his pack, and gingerly cupped it. It was a flower chain, linked in a little circle with tiny colorful blossoms. He held it out in front of her.

"For me?" She smiled before carefully taking it. "Oh, thank you, Link, this is very sweet of you."

The boy swelled with pride and itched the back of his scalp, before digging his toe in the floor. "It's an eng..enga… engagem-ment ring."

"An engagement ring? Oh, how-" Sango froze.

She looked at the bracelet.

Back at the kokiri.

And everything started clicking into place. "Well, Link, I…"

"I w-want you to be w-w-_with_ me. I… I l-like you."

"Oh, Link, I… I like you too, it's just… this can't work." She smiled gently, a little nervously as she spoke carefully. "I come from another world. Once the others and I find a way home, we won't be staying here."

"B-But… can't you stay if we d-def-f-feat Na..Nar-r-raku? I c-can g-get str…stronger."

"I'm sure you could. But, it's still my home. It's where I belong, just as you belong here. I can't accept this."

He looked dolefully at her. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him beseechingly.

"Link, you're very kind, and I'm flattered that you think so highly of me. You should find someone else you're fond of. I'm sure another girl would like to receive this better than I would."

Link looked to the bracelet, but did not reach out for it.

"Is it… cuz I'm… small?"

"No!" she assured quickly. "It's not that at all." Though that certainly played a part, but the poor boy did not need to know that. "I told you, you're a kind boy, but… the truth is, I'm afraid I'm rather taken with someone else."

His shoulders slumped as his worst fears were confirmed.

"He may not always live up to his vows, and he may put his own interest before others, but he is a good comrade, and very knowledgeable. He is… someone I have found myself falling for, despite everything." She smiled to Link softly. "I'm sure you'll find someone like that too, someday. But I cannot be that one for you."

She held the bracelet out to him, and he looked at it dolefully, before he held up his hand and shook his head.

"But Link, I can't accept this."

He shook his head again, and this time stepped back.

She considered it, trying to think of a way to salvage without destroying it.

"Well, what if this was a friendship bracelet instead? Is that all right?"

He considered the statement carefully. Then he nodded slowly. And only then did she reverently put it on.

"Thank you, Link. This is the most beautiful friendship bracelet I've ever received. Do you want to stay longer?"

He shook his head, and Sango finally stood. Only when she looked up did she see the state of the sky.

"I suppose we couldn't stay even if we wanted. All right then, let's head back."

During the trip back, it was complete silence, worrying Sango for a reason she could not fathom, and only after contemplating it more did she realize it was because he stopped talking. He had practically been a chatterbox. Before she rejected him.

"Link?" she tried hesitantly.

He turned his head down slightly, but gave no other indication he was listening.

"I didn't tell you before, but I thought that was very brave of you."

He peeked hesitantly over his shoulder.

"Not very many people are brave enough to do what you did, to lay themselves on the line like that. It's much more difficult than it should be. I admire your courage."

Sango could see just a small hint of pink over his cheeks before he turned away quickly. He did not say anything, but she had seen enough to make her think that she had left him with a better impression. The last thing she wanted was to see him close up again because of this.

She admires my courage, he thought. She thinks I'm brave…

If only he wasn't so small. Sure, she said that it wasn't because he was little, but he had seen how this outside world worked. The big people always went with the big people. And the little people seemed to look at the little people. (If Princess Ruto's infatuation with Shippou was any indication.) He had never seen big and little together. No wonder he didn't have a chance. If only he was not a kokiri.

As though the weather wanted to cruelly reflect the hopelessness of the situation, lightning flashed in the clouds, and a roar of thunder nearly deafened them. The first warning droplets fell.

"At least we're close by," Sango said, then stopped when she saw something over the wall. "What's that?"

The town square seemed to be at the center of the storm. A peculiar orange glow flickered from behind the walls. The drawbridge fell to the floor, and a white stallion galloped through the mud and rain. For just the moment in passing, the pair on Kilala made eye contact with the pair on the stallion below them, and they saw Impa and a little girl in pink and white clothing riding the saddle. Sango took Kilala down and turned her around to ride alongside them.

"Impa," Sango called, "What's going on?"

"A revolt. The castle is under attack, and I must get the princess to safety! The King has already fallen!"

"Please!" The girl called. "You must protect the townsfolk! The demons are attacking!"

It took Link a moment to recognize the princesses Zelda, and another moment to register what she had just said.

"Naraku!" Sango muttered darkly.

"I'll take care of the princesses," Impa assured. "Protect the people!"

"On it."

"Wait, Link!"

The boy looked to Zelda just in time to see her toss an item to him. Lightning fast he caught it, and looked at it for a moment to see it was a blue ocarina.

"Keep it away from Gannondorf! Don't let the others see it!"

"Good luck!" Sango called.

"Same to you!" Impa replied.

The warriors veered away to their goals, charging with the children hanging on for the ride.

"We have to get the others," Sango said. "We might not be able to handle whatever Naraku has in store for us on our own. He has a penchant for setting traps."

"Sango!"

Both parties turned in surprise to see the missing portion of their team.

"We came out to make sure you'd find your way back in the storm, and saw Kilala charging for the castle." Kagome breathlessly explained.

"Oi," InuYasha called, "just what's going on out here?"

"It's Naraku!" she called. "Demons are attacking the castle!"

"What of her highness?" Miroku asked.

"She's all right, Impa's taken her."

"Link!" Navi flew right to him. "Are you all right?" She stopped and stared at the new item in his hand. "What's that? Is that an ocarina? You better put it away before it gets damaged, for where we're going."

At least everyone was here. Link opened his pouch, and shoved it hastily in, knowing Navi had a point. Actually, it would probably be a good idea to do the same with Saria's ocarina. He unclipped it from his belt, and pulled out his newest weapon to switch it in preparation for the upcoming battle.

"Hold on!" Kagome warned.

Kilala stopped sharply. Link lurched from the halt, and held on to the demon cat's head for safety. A man was charging for the bridge just as they approached, and reared the same moment they stopped.

Navi jingled. "The ocarina!"

The smooth clay instrument arced through the air from the hand he had used to hold on to the fur.

'Saria,' Link called only in his mind.

And looked on in horror as it landed just under the landing black stallion, crunching the clay into jagged pieces deep in the mud.

"Oh," Navi gave a mournful little moan, and fluttered next to Link's face. "Are you all right? I'm sorry."

The boy could say nothing.

"Out of our way!" InuYasha warned and drew his blade as he ran. "Otherwise we're taking you down too!"

The man on the horse was tall, broad, and dark with black armor, with red hair to cut through the darkness. He sat mounted on top of a black stallion.

The moment Link saw him, he gasped. "Guh…Gan-nondorf…"

"How do you know that's him?" Sango asked.

"The... The d-dreams…" he murmured.

Miroku had also heard nearby, looked to him. "Dreams? You mean like the prophetic visions her highness has?"

Link looked between them hopelessly, unsure of how to answer and convey what he needed.

Gannondorf laughed from atop his stallion. "So, this is the infamous troupe I've heard so much about. I was expecting something more impressive. But you're in my way. There's something I need."

"He's probably going after Impa," Sango realized. "I'll stop him. Link, go with the others into the castle Town and help the people."

He slipped off dutifully, but instead of running with the others, he drew his sword and pointed it to Gannondorf. It made the man laugh.

"You've got guts, kid, I'll give you that. Unfortunately, I don't have time to play with any of you."

He held out his hand, and the arm morphed into a tendril and shot out. Link ducked down to use his shield, but Kilala had jumped in front, and Sango swung down Hiraikotsu to chop the limb.

"He's a demon puppet!" Kagome realized.

"That must mean the real Gannondorf is inside with Naraku!" InuYasha reasoned. "Come on!"

"Come on, Link," Shippou urged. "Sango can handle one demon puppet, we have to get inside."

Link hesitated, but Shippou whispered hoarsely to him.

"We can't let them get the stones!"

He was right. She was ten times stronger than he was anyway. Link cast one regretful look to Sango before running. The Gannondorf puppet did not even glance their way. For a single moment, Link looked at the hooves of the mighty black horse, seeing the broken pieces of brown clay in the dying light, before looking pointedly away, and sprinting through the gates into the castle.

Or, more accurately, through the gates of Hell.

Townsfolk screamed as the demons raged, sending the main square into a panic. Fire roared in their climb to the sky. The storm clouds glowed angry orange and red as the smoke plumed up to join them. The monsters roared and cackled as the human fighters cleared the way, yelling at the folk to get out of the way if they didn't want to get hurt. The Hylian knights fought valiantly against their opponents, keeping the dark wave at bay and battling with as much vigor as they could muster, trying to bring civility to this chaos. Tails and claws smashed the wood buildings, and decimated signs into splintered pieces.

"The townsfolk are in danger!" Kagome cried.

"Then let's take care of the small fry!" InuYasha roared, and yanked Tetsaiga to life in an explosion of flame as he charged.

In the field of Hyrule, the battle had taken an unexpected turn. Sango brandished her weapon, prepping herself on the growling Kilala.

"Ready or not, here we come!"

She charged and swung back her weapon. The Gannondorf puppet had spurred his stallion into a head on charge, but veered left when the Hiraikotsu whirred toward him. He shot out his tendril arm, Kilala took to the sky. They met with the Hiraikotsu just as the arm had arched and flicked like a whip to take them down. Kilala evaded each swing, and sprinted over the dark soldier. Sango pushed off the demon-cat's flank with one hand and swung her leg over to sail down. Ganondorf saw the move, but the horse could not move quickly enough to safety, and The Hiraikotsu crashed into his shoulder armor with an echoing ring. He yelled from impact and backhanded in retaliation. The same arm reaction surprised Sango, and she took the hit, and skid several feet away, just in time for Kilala to swoop in with a deadly bit to his arm to tear it off.

Sango went to her feet, and brandished her weapon.

"Your horse doesn't seem to be of much help to you," she taunted. Kilala joined her side, and she pulled back the boomerang in preparation again. "You'd be better off without it."

"You're right," he conceded, but there was an odd smirk as he said it. "Your demon-cat is a much better suited steed for battle."

The ease of which he said it put her on edge. Just what was he planning? "Tell me, why has Naraku sent us here? You're obviously working with him."

"To help me in my own endeavors." His smirk turned into a full-out grin. "Out of the goodness of his heart."

"You should know it's going to do you more harm than good. Naraku will only do what works best for him."

"Oh, I think his payment will more than suffice for what he needs. All I need to do is take advantage of the favors he's sent my way. Naraku was right in sending you to me."

"That's only because he can't defeat us himself!"

It was obvious she would not get answers like this. She needed to take him down, join the others, and get to him in the castle to end this once and for all. So she charged at Gannondorf with a battle-cry, hell-bent on cleaving the puppet right in half.

Until she froze.

She tried to pull her feet from the grass, but her muscles could barely strain, let alone move. Kilala growled beside her from her own statuesque pose. Her fur stood on end as she growled, but her legs could only manage a twitch.

'What's going on,' Sango thought in panic. 'Why can't I move?'

"Well, it seems he was right," the Gannondorf puppet chuckled as he dismounted the horse. He took a few leisurely steps forward to the fighting pair. "You two are quite the pair. I can already think of a few uses for you. Especially _you_, my fiery demon-cat."

Sango and Kilala could only glower in response as Gannondorf approached. Sango looked past him, and attempted to see past the bridge to find her companions through the haze of smoke. She knew she had to warn them of something, tell them that something was very, _very_ wrong, before it was too late.

The chains of the drawbridge clanked slowly as they reeled to bring up the bridge. Sango could do nothing but watch as the wall behind him sealed with finality.

"Link get down!"

Shippou's cry made Link crouch instantly as a whorl of Fox Fire sailed over him to incinerate the demon behind him.

"Way to go, Shippou," Kagome complimented.

"Looks like someone got some fight in him." InuYasha jabbed.

"Of course," he huffed. "How do you think we survived in the belly of such a beast all by ourselves? _I_ naturally had to call on my great demon strength."

"Left!" Navi said as she shot over him.

Shippou dove to the right, just as Link chucked a weapon to where Navi had locked on to a double headed demon, knocking the second head against the first. Shippou had taken out a bomb from his bag, and threw it at the beast as well, charring it nicely. The weapon that Link had thrown whirled back to him in a circle and he caught the miniature Hiraikotsu he decided to more conveniently call a boomerang, before switching to his sword and delivering the final blow.

"Well, you two make quite the pair." Miroku complimented.

"Got that right." Shippou jumped behind Link so they were back to back. "After all that practice, we've got each other covered."

"Almost wish I had seen it," InuYasha muttered, before focusing back on his battle.

One giant demon reared over a simple man that had tried to use a shovel to beat it off and protect his family. The shovel was knocked away without any effort. The child sobbed and the mother cradled him to her chest, just as the husband threw himself over them all to hold them in their final moments.

The demon's claws clanked against the holy staff. The family looked up hesitantly at the back of Miroku's straining form as he held the beast at bay.

"Take your family and go," he called back. "Tell everyone to get to the town center."

"Of course," the man said shakily, and he helped pull up his wife as she hoisted the child into her arms. "Thank you, thank you, sir!"

"Don't thank me just yet," Miroku grunted, and pushed off his staff to slash at the demon.

The other fighters had given the same orders, and the townsfolk ran to the square center. The inter-dimensional fighters formed a barrier around the tiny crowd of people. The barrier thickened from the Hylian knights that joined them.

"You don't have to fight!" Kagome called out. "You'll just get hurt!"

"This is our town!" A soldier called back. "It's our duty to protect the royal family, and the citizens!"

A demon brandished its claws and charged at the soldier that had just spoken. He raised his spear, and the knight next to him did the same. With a battle-cry, they impaled the demon from two sides and ripped their spears out to repeat the motion.

"They'll be all right, Kagome," Miroku called out. "We have to worry more about the ones behind this uprising."

"Knowing Naraku, they'll be in the castle," Kagome reasoned.

"Then we don't have any time to lose," InuYasha asserted. "We have to get in there. _I'm_ going ahead."

"I'm going with you!" Kagome said as she ran up beside him.

"You'll just get hurt!"

"I'm not letting you go alone!" She grabbed a hold of his sleeve. "I'm going with you, and that's final!"

He 'tsk'ed. She was a stubborn one. If she wanted to go, there was no talking her out of it, and they had no time anyway. He crouched down. "Get on."

She jumped on his back, and he bound away. Link saw them go, and ran forward with an outstretched arm, but Miroku's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"We can't, we'll be bringing the stones right to them. I don't like the idea of splitting up either, but we must keep them safe."

Link turned his pleading face from the monk to where red, white, and green disappeared into the haze in the tiny valley that led to the castle. First Zelda and Impa, then Sango and Kilala, now InuYasha and Kagome. He hated not knowing where everyone was headed. Why did everyone have to leave?

"Leave the knuckle-head be," Navi said. "We'll catch up to them later, and get them out of whatever trouble they find themselves in."

"This way," Mioku urged. "I know where the door lies."

Link had a terrible, awful feeling about leaving. But really, what choice did they have? He was the protector of the stones, he had to make sure they did not fall into the wrong hands, and that the Triforce would be free from evil influence. So he ran after Miroku, slicing after demons in their paths.

"Hey, wait for me!" Shippou called, racing after them.

They raced up the stairs, Link and Shippou barely noting the impressive white architecture, before a horde of buzzing insects reared up from the bushes.

"It's the saimyosho!"

"Saimwhato?" Navi asked.

"Naraku's poisonous insects," Miroku clarified. "And if they're here, then that must mean Naraku is too!"

"And right you are, monk."

All three fighters sprung back to face the way they had come. Link thought his heart would jump into his throat. This was him. This was Naraku, the man that had stolen everything from everyone, that had made his friends suffer, and had come to this world to make it fall under a similar fate.

So Link was honestly confused as to why the figure was wearing an animal pelt. It didn't exactly fill him with the terror he had been expecting. All the bigger monsters he had faced so far scared him more than this Naraku person.

"Still hiding away, I see." Miroku noted in distaste. "Still find it fit to merely send one of your puppets to greet us?"

"I assure you, monk, if I had the ability, I would cross over the border of worlds to say hello myself. We haven't seen each other in a long time, after all."

"Save the sentiment." He kept his eyes forward, but murmured out of the corner of his mouth. "Link, you and Shippou need to get inside the temple. I'll stall him to give you time to get through the door."

"But Miroku," Navi jingled in protest. "Why do you have to fight by yourself? We can all take him."

"I'm merely stalling. I'll take care of one puppet. That place is sacred, I can sense it. You two should be fine in there, now go."

The younger fighters looked at each other anxiously for a moment, before nodding in begrudging agreement.

"All right," Shippou finally said as Link pushed open the door. "We'll be right out!"

The moment the door closed behind Miroku, he planted the rod firmly in the ground, and grabbed a hold of his rosary.

"Oh? Is that the real reason you sent the children away?" Naraku asked with a hint of amusement. "So the children would not see you sacrifice yourself?"

"You insult me. I can easily handle the poison from just these insects. You, on the other hand, cannot stand up to my WINDTUNNEL!" He screamed, as he whipped off the rosary and threw out his hand.

Within the temple, the sacred hymns of the spirits echoed through halls. Link and Shippou ran along the crimson carpet to the altar in front of the massive stone carving. The moment they did, the boys froze when the three stones emerged from Link's satchel. The glittering and translucent gems rotated around Link's head like a halo, their magic sparkling even brighter within the holy light of the temple. They descended slowly onto the cracked black surface of the altar, spinning slowly by their own unnamable force. The boys looked at each other in the resulting silence as Navi hovered over the stone and read the inscription on the altar.

"Well, this is definitely where the stones are supposed to go," Navi said. "But I think there's another step we need to take. Something about the royal family."

"But, Princess Zelda is gone," Shippou pointed out. "How are we supposed to open the door without her?"

At the mention of her highness, Link remembered her message, and pulled out the item. Then he went rigid, and the whole world went white.

"Huh?" Shippou blinked and leaned in for a closer look. "Link, what happened to your ocarina?" When he received no answer, he looked up at his face. He jumped. "Whoa, Link, what happened?"

The boy was completely still, his eyes still on the instrument, but wide and unfocused. He hardly seemed to be breathing.

"He's in a trance," Navi realized. "I think that ocarina is doing something to him. Or it's showing him something. A vision."

As soon as she said that, his hands came up of his own accord, and brought the piece to his mouth. The spirits of the temple went silent. Navi and Shippou quieted, watching with a sort of unconscious rapture as the first high note lilted through the emptiness of the temple. The boy's breath was steady, making a single stream that wove and turned with each rise and fall of his fingers. Only when he hit the final note of the verse, did he pause. He blinked, coming out from his trance. He looked to the ocarina, took a slow breath, only to start again.

With the first flying note, the spirits celebrated, the tune rolling from the clay to be carried ever higher from the support of the chorus. The river of music dove into the hearts and souls of the listeners, and bounced off the stone walls filling the emptiness with the waves of the melody. The waves of music culminated stronger, stronger, until the crescent peaked at the highest notes, and crashed into the low notes of the finale. And then the wave rolled back, the tide pulling open the carved doors behind the altar.

The trio stared into the hidden dark room of the temple, and the ray of light illuminating its centerpiece. Stone steps ascended to the pedestal, with a sense of beckoning and awe.

"Hey, there's something in there," Shippou realized. "Is it the way to the Triforce and the Sacred Realm?"

"Indeed," a dark voice reverberated. "And I can't thank you boys enough for leading me to it."

The three whirled and stared up at the huge, imposing figure of the Gerudo thief sneering down on them. Link drew his weapon automatically, and Shippou reached into his vest to bring out the bomb bag. Gannondorf let out a low chuckle through the still air.

"I see you've both got guts. Too bad you're standing in my way." He raised his hand, gathering dark energy into his palm. "You might have grown up to be capable."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Shippou called, and reached into the bag. "RAINING-"

The boys flew apart with a shout at the blast. Shippou skid across the floor in the room while Link knocked against the door. The back of his head slammed against the stone, loosening the sword from his hand and sending it clattering down the steps.

"Afraid to say I don't have time to play," he said. "But, I will take care of _you_, before you become too much of a nuisance."

Gannondorf had stopped in front of Link. Navi flittered nervously, and tried to fly around Link's face.

"Link, Link, wake up, now is not the time for a nap!"

The boy groaned, and blinked open his eyes against his now pounding headache, following the light until his eyes rested on Gannondorf's outstretched hand.

"Say goodbye, boy."

Shippou raised his head from his own momentary unconsciousness, saw the predicament of his friend, saw the evil man standing imposingly over him, stretching out his hand, gathering energy again, and the little fox flew into action.

"Link, no!"

Link noticed too late his lack of sword, just as the dark magic burst forth.

"FOX FIRE!"

Link saw the spiral of fire, but realized in horror that it was flying right at him instead of Gannondorf. He closed his eyes and cringed in expectance of the burn. He felt a wind, and the sound of singeing, but oddly enough felt no heat.

"YOU!" the man roared. "Stay out of my way!"

Link peeked open his eyes, and found he was stunned, yet again. The blue will-o-wisp flames had him completely surrounded, engulfed in a flare of flame, yet there was no heat. He looked up and saw Gannondorf glaring at an almost equally stunned Shippou, and bringing back a scalded hand.

"I… I can't believe I did it!" The little child said in exuberance. "I actually made a protective flame! Wahoo!"

"It… protected us?" Navi said in disbelief. "It can do that?"

"At first I thought you were just a pest," Gannondorf seethed. "But now I see you're going to be a real pain!"

He left Link to stomp over to the child, and Shippou instantly shot out his hand.

"Fox fire!" he shouted, only for a tiny little flame to puff out. "Oh no, of all the times to run out of magic! WAH!"

He yelped as the man swiftly picked him up by the throat, as easily as a little rag doll. The fox feet kicked out as he clawed at the meaty hand, but his struggles were harmless little taps in comparison. The flame died around the pair.

"Shippou, no!" Navi cried.

"I guess I'll need to get rid of you, first," he seethed.

Link watched, and his eyes darted around for his sword, only to find that he couldn't see where it had fallen. Where, where? Where had it gone? He needed his sword!

He looked behind him to the pedestal light. That was a sword, right? So he put his shield back and raced for the sword. Gannondorf heard the steps behind him, and turned to watch. As soon as he saw where Link was headed, he released his hold on Shippou's neck.

"Link!" Shippou cried. "Don't leave me here!"

I won't, Link swore as he bounded up the stairs. I'll save you.

He reached the top, and he grabbed the sword handle. It almost devastated him to see it was taller than him. He had to step onto the pedestal just to reach the top. Obviously, the sword was not meant for someone small like a kokiri, but he wrapped both hands around the handle just the same. He would not let that stop him.

"If only I w-was buh-bi-big-g-ger," he muttered, and pulled it with a cry.

The metal sang against stone. Instantly, the pedestal glowed ethereally, and engulfed the boy in a column of light. Link's gaze locked onto the ceiling, watching the white triangle glow against the stone.

"Link!"

Snapped to reality, the boy turned and saw Gannondorf standing merely a few steps behind him, still holding a kicking Shippou by the scruff of his kimono. The thief did nothing, but he threw his head back and laughed. Laughed long, hard, and loud, as the light grew and everything started fading.

"Link…" came Shippou's voice again, this time from a place much farther, even though he had not moved.

Shippou reached out with his short arm and tiny fingers, and Link desperately reached out to meet him. His moves were sluggish, like moving in thickening water. He stretched, and strained, pulling him closer to the edge of the column of light. And just before their fingers touched, his world went white.

The world fell to chaos. With the lock removed, Gannondorf entered the sacred realm, and stole the great power for himself. And unleashed a torment like none could imagine onto the land. And the alien forces known as demons multiplied by a process no one could know or explain. Dark beasts grew in power, and evil curses touched all corners of the world, no place was spared. No place, except for one town on the bottom of a mountain trail, where the Hylians all fled. Even then, the ring of fire around the great mountain was a constant reminder that they lived on borrowed time. It was an era of fear and despair, with no hope of salvation.

Until seven years later, deep in the forgotten chamber of the Temple of Time, the sacred realm opened again, to finally release a chosen hero from his slumber. A courageous person deemed worthy by the blade of evil's bane, because of the nobility of his lineage and the strength of his old soul- a spirit chosen time and time again through the ages. With a ray of salvation, he stood before the sword's pedestal, in the same exact spot he had been ripped away from seven years ago. Taller, older, with a shield that now fit him, and a sword now more than suitable to be wielded in a single hand.

But when he opened his eyes, he was far from happy.

"Sh-Shippou?"

The pristine purity of the chambers felt cold and empty. The stuttered inquiry amplified off the stone, and died into the spirit's chorus.

"Link," Navi said hesitantly. "You heard Rauru. He's not here."

Link attempted a run down the steps, but stumbled and skidded on the floor.

"Careful! You're not used to that body yet."

He got back to his feet without stopping, and kept running anyway, taking heed of his longer legs, and awkward gate. He slowed at the second set of step just to be safe, but ran to the temple door.

"Link wait, it won't do any good." She said before flying after him.

She could not be right. Not this time. Seven years could not have _possibly_ passed. The Goddesses had simply answered his prayer. They had to be here, he refused to believe that he had truly been asleep for that long. That he had left them out here to battle on their own. That he had ran away and left them behind. That he had failed them.

"Miroku?" he called through the doors as he flung them open. "Miro

Death.

The pair froze in their induced paralysis, the reality of their sight far more disturbing than Rauru's words. Perpetual black clouds stole away the sun, leaving only cold. The wind moaned through the barren land, more chilling than any silence. But there was one feature that stuck out most, leaving them sick and dizzy: a scent that permeated the air; sour and sharp that somehow reminded Link of rotting fish. He held back a grimace, but the scent made his mild sense of vertigo worse.

"Miroku?" Link tried again, his voice small. He looked around again, taking his steps out into the world. "M-Mir-roku?"

"Link…" Navi said despondently. "I don't think they're here."

He bolted.

"Link!"

He stumbled in his awkward body. He had more length than he knew what to do with, and he cursed his clumsiness, but did not slow. The moment he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw the charred and broken remains of the town. He also saw people standing in the town square. They were simply standing, with no demons around, and felt a little relief. This battle had ended. That must have meant the others were in the castle, fighting Gannondorf and Naraku now. He ran to the path for the castle, seeing a person in the way, but knowing he did not have time to ask what was happening. All he needed was to catch up and join the ranks-

A blood curdling scream stopped him in his tracks. The person he had been running toward slowly turned and took a leisurely step for him. And Link realized with horror that thing was not a person at all. Its scream was not a scream, but a wail of agony that drilled into his ears and burrowed into the very marrow of his bones. His heart beat faster, he shook as his skin prickled, but he remained uselessly frozen as the curse seized his very heart, making it impossible to breath, even as he shivered. The gaping maw of the nameless monster never moved from its lethal, ravenous yawn, and its gaze trained onto him, two soulless black pits. And as it limped closer, the scent that saturated the air engulfed him completely with a vengeance, and Link realized that it was the source of the scent. Of rotting flesh. The scent of death.

Yet he could not. Look. Away…

"Link watch out!" Navi cried. "It's a re-dead, it is gets too close, you're done for!"

His blade came out faster than he could think, and he swung. The thing was too far, but he jumped forward and practically bludgeoned it as quickly as physically possible, hacking and slashing with a desperation born from the drive of survival, until it finally collapsed to its knees. Link heaved as he watched it warily. It still wasn't moving. It had not disappeared like the other monsters.

'It's going to get back up,' Link realized. 'I can't kill it. It won't die!'

Because it was never alive to begin with.

"Link, we have to go! It's too dangerous here!"

He bolted. For the castle.

"No! Not that way!" Navi cried. "We have to get out of here!"

Re-deads plagued every part of the city. And slowly, each turned toward the commotion, but Link kept running, barely grazing out of their peripheral vision until he reached his destination. He could barely recognize the area, wondering if he had reached the little valley path to the castle, or is he was still in the remains of the town.

And then a whole new wave of disbelief and horror washed over him when he was confronted with the answer.

The castle was immense, gigantic, titanic in every sense of the word, just as he remembered it. But the gothic architecture had turned dark, the once bright stone hazed by years of ash that erupted from the lake of magma under it. The pointed towers skewered the clouds, and loomed as a sinister beast above them, instead of the awe-inspiring stature it had once been. No path, no bridge, not even a rail gave any sort of way to travel across the expanse. It was isolated, unreachable, and ghostly with the howling wind.

"Kag-_go_me?" He called out, born for the desperation of reaching for something, anything. "In-nu…In-nu_Ya_sha?"

"Link…" Navi said softly. "We have to go. Even if they were in there, how could we get across?"

Link looked down into the sulfurous bubbling red and yellow. No matter what protests, no matter what disagreements he wanted to say, nothing could change the truth of her words.

"We're going to have to get out of the town. We'll have to get through the Re-Deads."

The grip around his sword clenched. Blast it all.

He thought he had already seen hell. But the battle with the demons had been a cinch compared to the terror he plunged into. In the beginning, he had tried to avoid the redeads by going down the alleyways, only to find that they had taken over every corner, not just the town square. He did not sheath his sword and kept it on the ready as he plunged in. Each wail of agony chilled him, throwing in images of the horror that this town must have suffered in his absence, yet the curse was temporary, and not a single one had managed to actually get hold of him. Perhaps it was a thin ribbon of divine mercy in this agonizing situation. Yet they still neared enough to stretch gangly limbs and display black rotting nails in the decayed brown skin to Link's terrified face. By the time he reached the bridge, he shook, and heaved, and nearly toppled from his ordeal.

Cold and clammy, with his heart never slowing down and the goose bumps still prickling his skin, Link kept his life-threatened grip on his new sword, which already felt heavy and bulky in his hand. His shield was almost impossible to hold up anymore. He stumbled down the broken piece of the bridge, splashing through the water and finally coming onto the field. To safety. From afar, he could see daylight, but here, at the very edge of Hyrule castle wall, it was still gray and dreary. But he could smell grass, and that was enough. He inhaled deeply to cleanse out the scent of death, never being so grateful to see the field in his life. He put the shield back on his balderdash tiredly as he wished he had flight as a means of travel again, but stopped before putting his sword away.

"Kil-lala…" he murmured.

"I know. I miss her too."

"No," he shook his head emphatically. "_Kil-l-lala_."

"Link, I don't get you…"

Of course she didn't, it was impossible to explain in words. But Kilala could fly! If she could hear him, she could get him, and bring him to the others. She was the ticket to the castle. Why had he not thought of that before? He took a breath.

"Ki-la…la!" He called out. "KILALA!"

He called, holding his hand by his mouth for amplification, and turning every which way in the hopes to see her form barreling toward him on the horizon. This time, Navi remained silent, knowing nothing she could say would change his mind. So he yelled, screamed out the name of the beloved feline until he felt his throat go hoarse, and his eyes begin to sting. The more he screamed, the more the empty sky taunted him.

"KILALA!" He begged the heavens. "KILALA!"

But the skies remained silent.

He doubled over, more out of breath then when he started. He started to feel lightheaded and felt the blood rush to his head.

Navi heaved as well, almost as exhausted as her partner after the ordeal. "Maybe you should rest for a second. Sit down."

He knelt down, holding onto his head as he steadied his swaying and closed his eyes in response to his blackening vision. Still unused to this body, he was starting to feel nauseous from the post-adrenaline rush. He put his hand to the floor to remind himself it was flat. After a minute to get his vertigo back under control, he opened his eyes again, and the grass no longer swayed under his him. He looked at his hand, bigger, with a strange leather glove he was unused to, and easily fitting around the blade handle. He was bigger now. Just like he wanted. Something jabbed under his fingers from the grass, and without conscious thought, his fingers curiously scratched at the ground, even as his mind wandered dangerously back to the rotted town. He paused when he felt something unnaturally smooth. He dug a little harder, and pried it out to take a look at. It was glossy under the patches of dirt dried to it. And only because it had been mere minutes since he had last seen it, did Link realize it was a small piece of his shattered ocarina. He raised his eyes to look out onto the fields again. The same fields he had left seven years ago, to try to make everything right, but leaving behind the woman warrior that had stayed behind to take the enemy's eye.

"S-sango," he croaked. He hiccupped. "Sahango…"

"Hm?" Navi hovered closer to his face. "What did you say?"

He raised the blade high and chucked it to the ground with a broken cry.

"Link!"

He dropped down again and pounded the ground with his fist. The stinging in his eyes finally blinded him.

"Ihi'm sorry," he coughed. "I'm soho s-sor-r-ry…"

The boy buried his face in his fists. Navi landed on his shoulder, putting her tiny hand on his ear in an attempt of comfort.

"Link… Link, it's not your fault."

"I'm sohorry. I'm so, soho sor-r-ry…"

He hiccupped, shaking and rocking on his heels as he grieved. It was his fault. He let Saria's ocarina shatter right before his eyes. He willingly left Sango and Kilala to fight out of the castle walls. He let Kagome and InuYasha break away and disappear. He left Miroku to fight alone. Even when Shippou was right in front of him, he could not reach out and save him. He failed everyone.

"I'm so sorry…"

"Rise, chosen hero. It wouldn't do well to have your enemies see you like this."

Navi jingled and circled around the source of the voice instantly. Link grabbed his sword and whirled, the blade stopping inches away from the stranger's neck. A single dark crimson eye stared down from ragged blonde bangs, the only visible portion of a face. The stranger wore a blue cloth mask with gray bandages, with the rest of his body covered in thin blue armor and gray jumpsuit.

"That's much better. But you can rest easy. I am not your enemy."

The fairy kept circling and the blade did not move. It was only when the mysterious stranger took a moment to truly look at the fighter still on his knee, to take in the heave of his chest, the tremble of his arm, the strained determination in that pained gaze, that he realized it was because it was taking all of Link's strength to hold up the sword.

And if the tearing red eyes were anything to go by, he doubted the child-man could even see him clearly.

"Link… I understand this will be difficult to ask, but you must trust me." He said, in a much softer voice. "I've come to help you."

He could see Link working to get his breathing back under control, but Navi flittered around defensively, still not moving from her place around the stranger's crown. "Oh yeah? And just why should we trust you?"

"I know why you are upset. I have information that will ease your heart, if you'll listen."

Link and Navi glanced to each other uncertainly, before Link finally let the sword plop onto the dying blades of grass.

"While it seems as if all the people have passed, they have merely fled this place. Everyone here has gone to Kakariko village, one of the few places still safe from the black magic cursing the land. The friends you made on your travels are not gone."

Link's eyes widened, suddenly riveted onto the Shiekah's next words.

"There are five more sacred sages that hold the key for helping to defeat Gannondorf once and for all. They are all locked away, sleeping to the power resting within them. If you seek these sages, then you will find your friends."

Link got to his feet. Shaky, weak, but alert. He wiped at his face quickly, and looked to the mysterious stranger, not bothering to hide his desperate hope.

"But be warned, all of them are being held captive by the alien powers that first invaded this land seven years ago. Listen well if you want to know where to find them..."

And he did. Link drank in every word, even when he did not understand everything right away, and even when he knew Navi was listening just as intently and probably trying to remember for him. He still hung onto every word until he managed to wrench it from the air and bury it deep in his psyche, because he knew it held the key. He dropped the now useless piece of clay from his hands. This time, he would make a new promise. This time, he would not dare to swear on something so frail. He had learned his lesson last time.

"…Do you understand, Hero?" The Shiekah asked when he was done.

Link nodded. His cheeks were still pink, but his eyes were dry. He held up the sword of evil's bane and watched it gleam in the sunlight. By the very blade he held in his hand, he would set everything right.

* * *

Okay, who loves me right now? Who hates me now? Who absolutely wants to drive a stake through my heart after torturing the information of everyone's fate? Any takers? Leave your votes in the reviews, lol.

Well, good news for you guys, it's summer for me! Bad news, I'll be working on other projects too. I have a goal, once a month, so you'll at least get three more chaps by the end of summer.

So, slightly curious... can anyone guess where everyone ended up? I'd love to see if anyone can correctly guess. Tell you what, I'm feeling generous, (and mischievous) so, if anyone can correctly guess where everyone is, I'll grant a request for the fic. Not to change something plot-wise, but any event you'd like to see, any line, any scene (comedic, romantic, or otherwise) I'll write it out. If it's something that's absolutely impossible to work into the story, then I'll write a little "spin-off" one shot for it. Maybe tack it onto one of the chapters. If there's more than one winner, I'll have them duke it out! Just kidding. I'll figure it out, depending out how many people actually get it.

Rules! Be specific, no generalizations, because... well, that's too vague, and can be interpreted a number of ways. I guess you don't have to give reasons, but an explanation never hurt anyone. You get one real guess; an in-depth answer. I'll give you a hint: think a little bit outside the OoT box. Think of it as a final. (I know, you must hate me now. But hey, the prize is a lot more fun.) Let's see if any of you were paying attention to foreshadowing in English class, kids!


	15. Getting There is Half the Battle

Hey! I will scurry away in advance, because I know you're all gonna hate me in a few minutes. *dashes off*

* * *

The fact that Link and Navi even had a clue to their friend's whereabouts was slightly comforting. It gave them a direction, and a goal. The problem was that it also gave them more questions. How did they get there? Were they trapped? Were they alright? It made "waiting" that much harder. But Link had a new body to train, and if he did not want to be killed, he needed to get comfortable in his own skin, so to speak.

They followed "Sheik's" directions, the mysterious masked man that greeted them outside the castle walls, to the Graveyard in Kakariko. Seeing that many of Castle Town's citizens had escaped to safety in the village was bittersweet. On the one hand, the pair was very happy to see that people were safe. On the other hand, it just dug in the gaping hole of _their_ absence even more. So Link continued to train, trying to get the hang of even the simple act of running.

There was a spirit under the soil of the graveyard, of the old gravekeeper. Apparently, he had an item that was imperative to Link's journey. He would not be able to traverse the old temple within the Lost woods without it. So he agreed to race the old spirit. It took him four times of stumbling, tripping, ghostly burning and dodging to finally complete the race. By the end of it, at least his coordination and agility had improved tremendously.

But there were new monsters he had to face, and he still needed to fight. The forest had changed so much over the seven years. A simple stroll through his childhood home turned into yet another battle for survival. Was there no place Gannondorf's and Naraku's evil could not reach? Thankfully, Link's battle abilities were still there, ingrained in his muscles, but the timing, and the reach of each combination had to be adjusted and taken into account. It was difficult, but the true test came when he finally entered the Lost Woods, and it was only then he truly saw the extent of the evil.

The Lost Woods was an overgrown mass of trees and bush. As if mystical wood was not bad enough before, traversing through the cursed forest was nearly impossible now. It was not just abundance of plants that was the problem, but of _dangerous_ plants. Nasty thorns curved like claws riddled the bushes, piercing right through Link's stockings to stab his legs, until he finally learned to stomp directly onto them with his thick hide boots. Long vines with moss draped from the canopy to impede his path, giving the perfect cover for all the Deku Babas' deadly strike. And the other nasty newcomers the pair had the honor of meeting.

After over two hours of this, Link turned into a mean, green, cutting machine. The sword sang as it whipped and crashed against the long grass and low branches. Link kept his sword swinging, so irritated with the day that he just felt a little better demolishing everything in his path. If anyone asked, it was purely practicality. No cover, no surprise strikes, no damage. Simple and straight forward. The release of his pent up frustration was just a bonus. There was a buzz- no, a sharp whir as something stirred behind him, and Link whirled as fast as he could.

Navi jingled suddenly. "Watch out!"

But it was already too late. The fast as lightning demon struck before Link could even raise his shield, launching him against a tree and leaving a deep gash on the left side of his body. Link coughed, mentally cursing all the while as the blue was finally slowed long enough to be visible. He must have stomped right by it, the predator waiting until it had an opening before attacking. Link glowered into its large, green compound eyes, barely flinching as the long antennae prodded the air in front of his face to scent him. He would rather be surrounded by a whole ring of Deku Baba than have to fight this thing. Its leafy green wings fluttered another moment before finally tucking against its abdomen. The metal hard exoskeleton was waxy like foliage, except at the end of its forelegs, which sharpened into lethal, glossy blades. The usual green was broken by the dripping red of Link's blood, but even that trait was less of a concern when it raised both of its arms to attack again.

The giant mantis slashed with its sharp pieces, clanging against the metal of Link's shield. In the moment it had taken to lean back, Link dove forward into a roll to get behind it, slashing quickly at the back to break its wings. The mammoth insect flinched and jumped forward, but made no sound other than the furious clacking of the mouth pincers. Link charged his sword in his powered up spin attack. It was the only attack hard enough to pierce its exoskeleton. He was nearly about to release it when-

"Watch out!"

-there was a strike from his right, slashing into his arm. The pitched warning of his draining hearts was a familiar sound by now. The problem was that he had just drunk the last of his potion in the last battle. He grunted from impact, stumbling away as the second mantis came to the join the first. And just as Link brought up his shield for the first one's slashes, the second scuttle around to his side, and lunged in a lightning strike.

This was the main problem when working with demons. They weren't like the dumb, simple monsters of his world. When a group got together, they were calculating, coordinated, he put up a strategy on one just to be broken by another. And he simply didn't have the speed or experience to take on more than one at once. One demon mantis he could handle. Two was a serious problem. But thankfully, he had something for that. Eyes locked on the beasts as he fell back, he jumped to the side, twice, reaching into the pouch at his belt, and picking out another Deku seed.

"DUPLICATE!" He shouted, chucking the seed in front of the demon mantis furthest from him.

It whistled through the air and in a flash of light, turned into perfect copy of an already charging Link. The Duplicate parried the demon's hits with a slash of his own, and as one, in perfect synch, original and Duplicate jumped into a leaping attack to crash their swords against the demon's hard heads. When they were stunned, each boy-man held their sword back and charged it, the blue energy glowing bright from both sources. About the time the two demon mantises got their senses back, Link let his attack fly, effectively cleaving the mantis in two. The body wavered and vanished, although it was never there to begin with. But Link could not celebrate, his stomach plummeting in dread when he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. There was a little pop as the duplicate Link vanished from existence, having run out of magic to support its form before it could complete its attack. He was out of mana. That was the fourth clone he had summoned, all of them channeling into his magic to use their own spin attack. It was only natural he would be depleted.

It just really sucked that it had to be at _that_ moment.

"GET DOWN!"

It was like a reflex, almost. The call was so familiar, so filled with urgency, that it forced Link to the floor before he could even recognize the voice. It was probably the rush of the warning, or maybe because the mantis was going for a horizontal cut while he was defenseless anyway, but he hit the dirt just as another body came sailing over him. There was a thud, as the mysterious savior sailed in with a kick, strong enough to knock the body back, just before he drew his sword, and lopped the head off with a single swipe. Like the first, the image wavered, before it too vanished without a trace.

Sensing the sudden change, Link and Navi finally peered up through the blades of wild grass to see the stranger, but his back was to them, keeping his face from view. His sword was a slim blade, relatively small even compared to Link's thick blade, which made him marvel about his strength. If that could behead the demon mantis in one swing, it definitely proved his strength. He was a peculiar looking man. Tall, lean, and his bare arms and legs were muscular. He wore brown fur pelts tied around his pelvis, shins, and shoulder pads, and wore thin strips of fur as wrist bands and a headband. The metal armor on his torso was a glossy ebony plate to match his long black ponytail, but was also topped with dulled steel. From this low, the rescued pair could see that he was barefoot, save some bandages around the arch of his feet. But what really caught the two's attention, and tipped them off that this man was not human, was the long trail of fur coming from the back of his loin pelt.

'Is that… a tail?' Link wondered.

It seemed to answer his question when it twitched and swished once before settling again. The stranger finally turned to face them, finally revealing each new feature to the pair's wondering eyes. Pointed ears... Ice blue eyes…

Fanged grin.

'Demon,' Link realized, gaping in disbelief.

"Hey. Looks like I got here just in time, huh?"


	16. Picking Sides

"Hey. Looks like I got here just in time, huh?"

And the manners were so reminiscent of a certain friend of his that Link smiled.

"You sure did!" Navi jingled excitedly as Link pushed himself to his feet. "You're a real lifesaver! You're a demon, right?"

The demon blinked in surprise, then cocked a brow. "Ya sure caught on quick. But ya ain't charging to try to kick my ass, so I guess that ain't a bad thing for ya."

"Why would it?" Fairy and boy looked at each other, before he shrugged and let her continue. "We have some friends who are demons. Maybe you know them."

"You do? Their names Ginta and Hakaku?"

"Um, no. Never heard of 'em."

"Then forget it." The demon scoffed, finally sheathing his katana. "They're the only ones I'm looking for right now."

"Your friends?"

"My pack, an' my comrades. I got separated from 'em 'bout seven years ago. Haven't seen 'em since."

"_Seven years_? You've been here since Link pulled the- er," the pair winced, before Navi corrected herself. "Since all this stuff happened, right?"

"Right. Back before this darn forest got so messed up you couldn't find your way back ten feet."

"Wait- you've been in these _woods_ for that long?"

"Yeah. Hard to believe it myself. I shoulda listened to that kid when I had a chance. Warned me that I'd be stuck in theses woods if I didn't get out."

"How're you not a Stalfos by now!? Most people would go insane!"

"Stalfos? Look, I dunno what you're talkin' about with that, but if you mean the curse on this forest, then I already know. Haven't been able to track my way around in ages. But come on, I'm a wolf demon. It's gonna take more than this to drive me nuts, trust me."

Link sighed softly, partially in exasperation, partially from painful nostalgia. Kouga reminded him so much of InuYasha, it was brutal.

"But hey," the demon shrugged nonchalantly. An impressive feat, considering the news he just bestowed. "Guess I got some company now. So how'd you guys get stuck in here anyway?"

"Oh we're not stuck, we're just trying to find a friend of ours."

"Heh, well, you will be soon enough. I hate to break it to you, but if you're out this far, you're already gone."

"Not really. I can still tell where we are." The fairy fluttered up to a broken tree, casting her green florescence on the bark. "It's changed a bit, but I can get back to the village if I need to."

"Wait, you… know your way around?"

"Of course."

"'Re you serious?" And the ice blue eyes brightened. He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward. "You're not pullin' my leg, are you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you can get me outta here!" He grabbed onto the young boy's shoulders. "Just take me back to the village an' I can get back to the outside world!"

Link stepped back from the excitable demon, though did not break the hold on his shoulders. He cast confused, desperate eyes to Navi for guidance, and the fairy flared. "What? We're not backtracking that far! We're almost to the temple!"

"C'mon, I've been wandering in circles in this hell for years- I gotta get outta here!"

"Well, yeah, but…"

Link looked from Kouga to Navi, looking down as he realized his sword was still drawn. He swallowed once, and muttered toward his fairy guardian. "The… The d-dem-mmm_mon_s…"

"Demons? Oh! Right! The demons!" She zipped up to the wolf demon's face. "Link still needs help! If he goes all the way back to the village, he has to make this whole trek over again, and who knows if he'd make it this time."

Link gulped, eyes wide as he stiffened under the demon's scrutiny. Aware of the hands on his shoulders, Link was not brave enough to attempt to back out of the hold. The wolf demon took her words to heart while examining the kid. And Kouga knew that "humans" aged a heck of a lot quicker than demons- like a blink of an eye, really. So maybe he was just a couple years out of his childhood. The bleeding was staining through his tunic, and Kouga's nose wrinkled as he looked away begrudgingly. He had forgotten he was already injured, in his excitement. And Hylians were as bad as humans when it came to durability. He released the kid's shoulders and crossed his arms.

"An' what if I told ya I knew a place that could heal that up no problem?"

After over twenty minutes, Link turned into a mean, green, cutting machine. The sword sang as it whipped and crashed against the long grass and low branches. Link kept his sword swinging, so irritated with the day that he just felt a little better demolishing everything in his path. If anyone asked, it was pure practicality. No cover, no surprise strikes, no damage. Simple and straight forward. The release of his pent up frustration was just a bonus.

"Look, if yer paranoid about any sneak attacks," Kouga said once in exasperation, "I can tell ya right now, I can sense 'em coming _way_ before you cut these down. Just running would be a heckuva lot faster."

Navi jingled once. "But he can't do that! That's dangerous and reckless! He's weak enough as it is, we can't just throw him headfirst into danger."

"If you're that worried, I can just carry him," he jabbed sarcastically. "Would still be faster than this."

Link shot a glare over his shoulder, before taking another hard swipe.

"What's his problem?" Kouga muttered.

Navi sighed once. "It's been a long day."

The wolf grunted impatiently. "If only I still had my shards," he growled. "We'd get there in no time."

And Link's expression soured even more when he cut through the grass, and found another green rupee instead of a heart like he had been hoping. Damn it, why couldn't he find these things when he needed them!? Also getting irritated, the wolf quickened his step to overtake him.

"Alright, ya've had yer fun. Now c'mon, we're almost there. We're wastin' daylight at this rate."

Link huffed. Yep. Just like InuYasha. Still, the grass cutting was getting him nowhere, so he followed obediently, hoping that Kouga's promise of "tiny healers" was real. When they came upon the hacked up section of forest, Kouga looked around, raising his nose and sniffing the air.

"This is the place awright. Smell of fresh water is close." He turned to look back at his companions, noting their expressions. "What's your deal?"

The little fairy swung almost like a pendulum back and forth, lighting Link's face with her progression. She turned this way and that, searching all around. Link took a few cautious steps, his own face wide open like a book as he drank in the sight. Wonder, uncertainty, and a touch of sadness.

"This place has… changed. A lot." Navi noted, sinking along with Link's bowed head.

"What, you've been here before?"

"Yeah… long time ago."

Dark, foggy, demolished. The shadows deepened the crevices, and dropped from the clawed branches. The hedges of the old maze were smashed and diced beyond recognition. The forest floor was likely covered with old and rotten leaves, but the rolling mist covered the sod. Grass grew wild and untamed, poking through the pearly white mist. It wasn't really much different from the rest of the forest. The only thing that tipped Link and Navi off to their actual location was the irongate. One of the doors was hanging half off the wall, and the other ripped clean off; tossed against a stone, covered with moss and web. Link shivered despite himself, the moisture and darkness dropping the temperature further than his blood drained body could handle. His already labored breathing hitched.

"Yeah, you're not in any condition to get through here." Kouga approached Link and held out an arm. "C'mon, you've wasted enough time-"

"What?" Link backed away quickly, and Navi picked up on his confusion and discomfort. "What're you trying to pull?"

"_What_?" He stared flatly. "I'm trying to get us there before _you_ get old. I wanna get outta here, an' I need you in one piece."

Given that argument, Link sighed, nodded once, and complied. Swallowing his pride, he sheathed his sword, and re-attached his shield. Then yelped when one strong arm grabbed a hold of his waist and hoisted him up over his shoulder. Navi jingled once in alarm. "Can't you be a little _gentler_? He's still hurt you know!"

"Relax, he'll be fine in a minute. Now quit yer jabberin' an follow me."

Link had no time to send a reassuring smile. The fairy squeaked and dove into Link's hat just as the wolf demon leapt to the trees. Even without his shards, his jumps were more than enough to bounce over the bushels and broken logs and fallen debris. The mist curled and sprung from his landings, the moist trunks groaning under his weight, but not cracking or breaking.

When he reached the designated spot, he was a little gentler letting his cargo down. This time he at least warned him before hefting him back over. Link nearly stumbled, just barely righting himself before falling flat on his face. But Kouga paid him no heed, and frowned as he sniffed the air.

"Something wrong?"

"Yeah… feel like we're being-"

"Watch out!"

A chain shot out of the trees straight for the wolf demon, catching him around the arm before he heard it coming. Wrapped thrice around the furred armguard, the chain's grip was strong as the other end yanked suddenly on the demon. It threw him off balance, but he squared his stance and pulled back against the force. He grabbed he chain with his free hand, and held his ground.

"Nice try, pal, but it's gonna take more than that to get _me!_"

And with a hard yank the chain came hurling toward him. But the perpetrator had released the chain, only to disappear into the trees. Navi followed Link's focus to the target, lighting into green. She squeaked in recognition.

"You can't hide forever!" Kouga called out, leaping after Navi's homing target.

Link pulled out his sword as Navi returned to inform him. "Link, its Sheik! He's the one who attacked Kouga!"

The boy-man gaped at her, before switching focus back to the shadow in the trees. Sheik? What on earth was he doing? Both he and the fairy tried to follow the two mysterious fighter's movements through the branches, but the attacker hid in the shadows, always one quick step ahead of the wolf. "Shoot, they're way too fast!"

Link was already sweating. Breathing heavy, feeling dizzy, the boy was hardly in any condition to fight. The world felt like it was shifting under his feet. All he could do was follow their movements at least two seconds behind. Up until the mysterious attacker jumped directly in front of him, poised for attack and slew of needles on hand.

"Now I gotcha!" Kouga curled his fist and pulled his hand back.

"Wait!" Navi gasped.

The volley of pins flew for the demon in mid-leap just as his arm pulled back. The needles sunk into his skin, and to the amazement of the spectators, held his position even as he slid onto the forest floor. The ground-clouds billowed from impact with a distinct _whomp _against the moist floor. He winced, but seemed completely immobilized, stuck in paralysis on the floor, with only an occasional twitch to evidence his struggle.

"You- whatdidya _do_ to me?" he demanded.

"I stunned the main points for your typical movement patterns. It was easy once I saw which paths you use most frequently." The fighter said calmly, and flicked out another volley of needles. "Now, to stop your heart."

"Wait!" Navi protested as Link ran in front. Sword out, shield raised, he blocked the mysterious fighter's direct path to the wolf. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

There was clear surprise in the Shiekah's eyes, before they narrowed slightly. "Eliminating a threat before it gets out of hand. Step aside."

"But he was helping us!"

"A ruse. He's putting himself in your good graces, by will of the Evil King. He'll bide his time to double-cross you, as all demons here will do. Now move, so I can take care of him now, before we regret it."

Link raised his sword and his shield in tandem. Navi jingled. "Say what? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Demons aren't bad! We're friends with them! And you can't say you're helping us if you're going to be _suspicious_ of them. Any enemy of them is an enemy of ours!"

The shadow warrior was silent, passing over Navi's glaring flashing. Ruby met sapphire in a silent test of wills, blue turning electric with rage. Sheik's calm eyes penetrated his, never faltering from his scrutiny.

"You will fight me to the death over him. I can already see there is nothing I can do to convince you, then."

Link nodded once. Sheik closed his eyes once, before pulling the needles back under his bandages. "Very well. It will be on your head."


End file.
